Liberty draws first blood, controlling the Aces from start to finish

NEW YORK — Breanna Stewart casually dribbled up the court, her eyes darting as she scanned the floor. With no hesitation — and no warning — the New York Liberty star lifted up from the left bend of the arc and buried a three-pointer in transition. The two-time MVP turned around and wagged her tongue as the sold-out Barclays Center erupted.

This was the matchup WNBA fans had been waiting for. A playoff rematch of the 2023 Finals, in which the Las Vegas Aces won their second consecutive championship. A series that features the winner of the past five MVP awards. A hungry Liberty team out for revenge and still in search of its first title. An Aces squad chasing history, trying to become the first team since 2002 in the WNBA, the NBA, MLB, the NFL or the NHL to win three straight titles.

Make no mistake: Sunday afternoon's Game 1 belonged to the Liberty. Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu combined for 55 points in an 87-77 victory that tipped off the best-of-five semifinals.

"I've just kind of grown from it," the 30-year-old Stewart said of the 2023 postseason; she had just 10 points in Game 4 of the Finals as the Aces clinched back-to-back titles. "[I] had, unfortunately, a lot of time to reflect about it. ... Where can I be better? And how [can we] kind of just handle things collectively better? But with that, I don't forget who I am and what I can do and making sure that, every opportunity that I get, I'm going to keep getting better. Last time wasn't my most proudest, but I'm going to continue to be better now."

Stewart set the tone from the opening tip and finished with 34 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. She had 20 points at halftime. Las Vegas, which never led, made a third-quarter run to cut its deficit to single digits after trailing by 18, but Ionescu (21 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block) took over early in the fourth quarter. After one three-pointer, she pointed at Spike Lee, who was ecstatic courtside and maintained a conversation with Aces guard Kelsey Plum throughout the game. Ionescu hit a three-pointer nearly from the center court logo for an 81-68 lead, then shrugged at Lee as the crowd drowned out the sound of the officials' whistles.

"I think he might have been the first person that called me when I got drafted here," Ionescu said. "I think that's a story that I don't know if I've ever said. [He] just shared his excitement with New York getting the number one pick. Every time I've seen him along the way ... I kept telling him he's got to come out to a game because this is kind of like no other. To be able to see him here cheering us on loud — he was over there chirping at the refs, talking to the players, which was really fun."

Las Vegas made a final push by scoring six straight, but Stewart hit a cutting layup, beat the shot clock with a banked-in runner with 1:12 left, then got a block on the other end.

The Aces' A'ja Wilson, the unanimous choice as she won her third MVP award, was swarmed throughout and finished with a hard-earned 21 points. Plum did most of the heavy lifting, scoring 24 points while going 4 for 8 from behind the arc. She scored the Aces' first 12 points of the third quarter while continuing her banter with Lee.

"It's a loss. That's the only thing that I really see," she said when asked about her performance. "There's a lot of things I think I can do better individually and also helping my teammates collectively. But to be honest, that's the statistic that matters — especially with this group."

Aces Coach Becky Hammon lamented falling behind by 11 in the first quarter and called Tuesday night's Game 2 "do-or-die." Her team was outrebounded 31-22 and had just six fast-break points to New York's 16. An inability to get stops prevented Las Vegas from getting out in transition. Hammon said the Liberty's length bothered the Aces and a lack of ball movement slowed the offense. Las Vegas managed just two offensive rebounds.

"Their defense was great tonight," Hammon said of the Liberty. "And then you've got to make shots against this team. They're too good defensively and offensively. ... They just kicked our ass in every area of the game, I thought. ... They came out and punched us in the nose — there's no doubt about it."

Notes: When the Aces arrived at the arena, all of Wilson's teammates were wearing her jersey — a not-so-subtle comment on the defensive player of the year award, which had been announced earlier in the day. Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier was the winner; Wilson was the runner-up.

Hammon has been open with her thoughts about Wilson and the award.

"If you have to go down a rabbit hole of analytics to put somebody in the same conversation, I think you already have the answer to your question," she said before the game. "And [Collier is] a great defensive player — I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, A'ja, if you watched the games, her blocks, the way she protects the rim, they're dominant physically like a dunk in men's basketball. They impact the arena like a dunk because she's so physically dominant." ...

The WNBA also announced that Lynx Coach/General Manager Cheryl Reeve was named the coach of the year for a fourth time and the executive of the year for a second. Collier, Wilson and Stewart were tabbed first-team all-defense with Seattle's Ezi Magbegor and Connecticut's DiJonai Carrington.