Breanna Stewart’s 34 points enough to outlast Kelsey Plum, Aces for 1-0 semifinals series lead

NEW YORK — Game 1 at Barclays Center went how the Liberty wanted it to.

As expected, the Las Vegas Aces kept the game close throughout and stayed within striking distance. But Breanna Stewart‘s offensive outburst kept her team in front for the entire game. And when the Liberty needed a boost down the stretch, Sabrina Ionescu delivered with shots from way beyond the arc.

With the Aces attempting a comeback, the sharpshooter drained a trey from 26 feet to put her team up 11 with 7:34 left in regulation. She then stepped back a few feet and delivered a 30-footer that electrified her team, Barclays Center and the Liberty’s newest sideline heckler: Spike Lee.

The plays were crucial in a game Aces star Kelsey Plum refused to let get out of reach. And she’s now the latest star to get an earful of trash talk from the famous New York superfan.

“He was over there chirping at the refs, talking to players which was really fun,” Ionescu said about Lee. The sharpshooter added that Lee “might have been the first person” to give her a call when the Liberty drafted her No. 1 overall in 2020.

It all led to a 87-77 Liberty victory for a 1-0 semifinals series lead over the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces. Stewart led the way with 34 points while Ionescu made three treys and totaled 21 points.

Stewart said postgame that head coach Sandy Brondello directed the team to get the ball in the hands of hers and Ionescu’s down the stretch.

The plan worked. And now the Liberty have their sights set on defending home court once again on Tuesday to gain a 2-0 lead, like the Aces did in last year’s best-of-five series.

“She never shies away from the moment,” Jonquel Jones, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, said about Ionescu. “She’s a player that’s done that in her collegiate career and now in the WNBA. It’s really good to have somebody on the court that can really catch a spark and get hot really quickly …”

A’ja Wilson fought late to get her team within single digits down the stretch after a lengthy official review, but her 21-point, six-rebound performance wasn’t enough to ruin the Liberty’s home-court advantage on Sunday. The three-time MVP winner stayed efficient, making nine of her 16 attempts in the outing. Brondello, however, was fine with those results.

“She still ended up with 21 but overall we did a good job on her,” the coach said postgame. “She had to work for all those points that she got.”

Plum finished with a team-high 24 points.

The first quarter showcased how the Liberty want to play in hopes of eliminating the two-time defending champs.

The home team led, 28-21, after assisting on 10 of 11 made field goals in the opening period. To start, Stewart led the offensive charge while guarding Kiah Stokes, which allowed the Liberty star to play free safety with the Aces big being close to a non-factor on the perimeter.

Stewart’s extra help defense combined with tight perimeter defense on Aces’ guards forced Becky Hammon‘s team into empty possessions. The Aces’ offensive troubles should’ve worsened at the 7:34 mark in the second, when Wilson went to the bench.

The bleeding stopped, however, after Jackie Young drained a trey and Plum scored and assisted in a 7-0 run that spanned the two minutes Wilson sat on the bench. That’s bad execution on the Liberty’s side, considering they’re a much deeper team that’s loaded with ample firepower when Wilson sits on the bench.

That two-point lead later stretched to nine after Jones’ trey at the 2:42 mark as some of the first quarter’s sharp execution returned. On the next possession, Plum turned the ball over and — in frustration — committed a loose-ball foul that resulted in Courtney Vandersloot splitting a pair at the free-throw line.

Stewart later used her patented turnaround jumper to cap a 20-point first half. That kind of offensive outburst was totally absent during last year’s WNBA Finals matchup against the Aces, and will be needed going forward if the Liberty want to return to the final round in 2024.

While Stewart torched for the Liberty, Wilson entered halftime with a respectable statline for herself: 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting while recording two rebounds, two assists and a block. The Aces, however, trailed by 10 going into halftime.

The Liberty returned from halftime getting a Leonie Fiebich trey and a steal by Stewart. Stewart then continued her offensive onslaught with five points, including a 27-footer that pushed the lead to 18 midway through the third.

Then, it was Plum’s turn to leave her mark on the game.

She contributed 10 points, including two made treys, to help shorten the Liberty lead to six at the 2:54 mark. Ionescu’s layup to end the third put her team up nine, just close enough for the Aces to set up a close fourth quarter we’re accustomed to seeing between the two superteams.

But the Liberty won the final period, 16-15, en route to the win. Jones’ block on Wilson with a minute left kept the Aces behind by 10 and thwarted the final comeback attempt.

With Game 1 now in the books, the Liberty hope to extend their semifinal series lead Tuesday night at Barclays Center.

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