NEW YORK — Last season, as the Las Vegas Aces searched for an edge that could carry them to a second consecutive championship, a slogan found its way onto T-shirts, social media posts and eventually a parade float: Aces vs. Everybody. It served as Las Vegas’ motivation. Each player and coach carried a chip on their shoulder.
But on Tuesday night, after the Aces lost to the New York Liberty 88-84 — a defeat which pushed Las Vegas to 0-2 in the series and to the brink of elimination — coach Becky Hammon crafted another slogan: “It was Aces vs. Aces tonight. We were beating ourselves.”
She also compared the Aces’ Game 2 defense to “a layup clinic.” Las Vegas was outscored 44-24 in the paint, and she said the Aces’ unwise fouling and other self-inflicted wounds put them in a hole.
BATTLED IT OUT AND PROTECTED HOME COURT #SEAFOAMSZN | #LIGHTITUPNYL pic.twitter.com/aNidqedAZk
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) October 2, 2024
Las Vegas committed three more fouls than New York, and more importantly missed seven of its 19 free throws.
Perhaps most notably, Las Vegas became the first defending champion to trail 0-2 in a WNBA playoff series — a disadvantage no team has overcome in league history. Hammon said the Aces are in “for a war. And a big one.”
“You can’t make mistakes. They’re too hurtful,” she said. “They’re too hard to recover when you’re playing the best team in the league. Let there be no doubt. They’re the best team. They played it all year. Just like we were last year.”
That was then. And this is now. The two-time reigning champs find themselves searching for an edge.
“Quite frankly, we haven’t had the edge,” Hammon said. “The feeling (this season) was different from the jump. And this is why three-peating is hard. Let’s be real. The whole league has been pissed off for the last eight months, and my players are in commercials, and this and that, and you get distracted. That’s why it’s hard.”
The Liberty brought more present challenges. Sabrina Ionescu carved through Las Vegas’ defense for 24 points. Breanna Stewart finished with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. New York’s constant movement attracted plenty of attention, as well, and led to repeated Las Vegas miscues. The Aces allowed New York to score 20 points off turnovers in the first half.
“They’re a team that capitalizes on your mistakes,” forward Alysha Clark said. “They’re too good for us to make mistakes.”
On Tuesday morning, three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson cited communication woes as part of the problem.
“Camaraderie is our blessing and our curse,” Wilson said. She added that sometimes Las Vegas falls into a trap of assuming where a teammate will be instead of actually calling it out.
Las Vegas wasn’t without some positives to hang onto as the series heads west. Wilson scored 18 second-half points to finish with 24, and the Aces had multiple chances to take the lead with less than a minute to play.
Still, they couldn’t get out of their own way. A turnover with 10.7 seconds remaining proved especially costly and took away a golden opportunity to level the series.
Hammon acknowledged that her players worked hard and had more energy than in Game 1. They also made more 3-pointers (12 in Game 2 compared to seven in Game 1), which helped create a more competitive contest. Clark said their communication improved, though down the stretch they faltered some in that area.
“But kind of the same problems were the same problems,” Hammon said bluntly.
Hammon is yet to experience a losing season with the Aces. Not a losing season in terms of record, but one in which she didn’t win a championship.
She joined Las Vegas before the 2022 season after serving as an NBA assistant with the San Antonio Spurs for seven years. On Tuesday, she harkened back to a notable comeback: After losing the 2013 title to the Miami Heat in heartbreaking fashion, the Spurs rallied to defeat the Heat for the 2014 championship.
“(The Spurs) came back with so much drive, so much discipline. So much focus. That there was no way they were going to beat them,” she said.
The trouble for the Aces, is that in Hammon’s own analogy, they are the Heat — the team that lost in 2014, not won. After Las Vegas’ Game 1 defeat, Hammon described Game 2 as a “do-or-die” affair.
“Did I say it was a must-win, I was lying,” she said jokingly. “Trying to bring the drama.”
Well, the drama is here.
“I love being in the history books, so might as well try and start there,” said Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who played better as she went from a 4-point outing in Game 1 to a 14-point, seven-assist showing in Game 2.
She is a veteran and champion. So too are Wilson, Clark and many other Aces. “I feel like if you don’t understand what’s at stake come Friday, there’s nothing we can say,” Clark said.
Hammon stressed that when play resumes later this week, her players must approach it quarter-by-quarter and play especially solid on defense. But it is hard to overlook what transpired in Brooklyn. A championship torch-passing seems increasingly inevitable.
Within minutes of the final buzzer sounding, the Aces vacated the Barclays Center floor, where they had won only once in the last two years. As they left, a giant torch was fittingly wheeled onto it, opposite New York’s bench. It was lit for the fourth time this postseason (one time for each playoff win).
The Liberty flame was radiant. The Aces’ flame flickered.
(Photo of A’ja Wilson and Jonquel Jones: Elsa / Getty Images)
