Liberty advance to WNBA Finals, ending the Aces’ season with 76-62 win in Game 4

The Las Vegas Aces’ dreams of a WNBA championship three-peat have been extinguished.

Instead, the New York Liberty are going to the WNBA Finals after beating the Aces 76-62 Sunday in Game 4 of the semifinals.

The Liberty closed out the Aces’ season in front of a loud, packed crowd in Las Vegas, getting early lead they never let go.

The Aces put up a good fight in the physical matchup, but struggled to get shots to fall despite some great looks. The game was close through the third quarter before New York pulled away and took the dominant 14-point win.

Both teams started off slowly and struggled to score, with the Liberty going 9-of-19 and the Aces going 6-of-19 in the first quarter. Jackie Young drained a 3 to start the Aces off, but Las Vegas wasn’t able to score again until halfway through the quarter. Both teams eventually found their footing, and the Aces tightened things up, with New York heading into the second quarter with a 23-19 lead.

Sabrina Ionescu, who was held to only four points in Game 3, scored 12 in the first quarter, going 4-of-4 (including three 3-pointers).

The Liberty, who were up by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, held on to the lead despite a push-and-pull from the Aces, who got within one point with just a minute left in the half. Despite being in position to take the lead, Las Vegas couldn’t get the ball into the net despite several attempts. Breanna Stewart got a layup to give the Liberty a three-point lead heading into the locker room.

In the third quarter, New York and Las Vegas stayed in somewhat of a holding pattern. Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich got into early foul trouble for the Liberty, forcing the team to adjust. A’ja Wilson, meanwhile, continued to be a dominant defensive force. A massive block on Stewart prompted a chorus of “MVP” chants from the crowd. Wilson finished with five blocks.

Despite the continued struggles, the Aces nearly took the lead at the end of the third quarter. Young nailed a wild, buzzer-beating halfcourt shot that was impressive even though it didn’t count.

The momentum of Young’s heave didn’t hold up in the fourth quarter, as the team quickly went down six points, and Becky Hammon was forced to call a timeout just 71 seconds in the quarter. Stewart and Wilson traded big blocks, but the Liberty pulled ahead to take an 11-point lead — the biggest of the game — off a massive 3-pointer from Ionescu.

From there, New York pulled further away, cementing the win and earning a trip to the WNBA Finals for the second straight year.

In the end, it came down to scoring: Las Vegas shot 21-of-64 overall and 7-of-30 on 3-pointers. Wilson, who is consistently the Aces’ top scorer, led the team with 19 points, but was less productive than normal, missing key shots that she normally makes with ease. Kelsey Plum finished with 17 points, making 3 of 9 triples.

Ionescu led both teams with 22 points, ending with five 3-pointers. Stewart had 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Jones pitched in 14 points.

Sunday now marks the end of Wilson’s season, with the MVP having the best year of her career. As time expired, Wilson shared a nice moment with Stewart, indicating no hard feelings about the loss.

New York will now play the winner of the Connecticut Sun-Minnesota Lynx series in the Finals, which are scheduled to begin Thursday. The Sun beat the Lynx in Game 4 of that series on Sunday, which forced a Game 5 on Tuesday night.