Another game between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty, another blowout. This time, the stage was Game 1 of the 2023 WNBA Finals. The Aces pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 99-82 win to remain undefeated in the postseason and take a 1-0 lead in this best-of-five matchup.
The Aces grabbed the early lead in front of their sold-out crowd, but the Liberty responded with a run of their own to take control at the end of the first quarter, which they maintained into halftime. After the break, though, it was all Aces. They turned it up a notch on both ends of the floor, and the Liberty were unable to match the energy. Early in the fourth quarter, they pushed the lead to double-digits and cruised the rest of the way.
Las Vegas's talented backcourt trio led the way, with Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray combining for 72 points on 25-of-47 from the field, 16 rebounds and 15 assists. The Aces matched the Liberty from the 3-point line with nine makes, outscored them by 11 from the free-throw line and outrebounded them by four -- all key areas in this series.
Game 2 of this series is set for Wednesday night.
Here are some key takeaways from the opening game of the Finals:
Aces' backcourt dominates
Coming into the series, the backcourt was an area where the Aces had an advantage. Their trio of Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young is the best guard combination in the league; all three made the All-Star Game this season and Gray is the reigning Finals MVP.
They didn't just win the backcourt showdown in Game 1, they dominated. Plum and Young led the way in the scoring department with playoff career-highs of 26 points, and together that trio combined for 72 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists on 25-of-47 shooting from the field.
Compare that to Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney and Courtney Vandersloot, who finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 11-of-26 shooting. That's not good enough for a Liberty group that is already at a disadvantage defensively and needs to make up for it with scoring.
If the Aces' guards are going to decisively outplay the Liberty's unit, then Las Vegas is going to win this series.
Liberty's poor 3-point shooting in the playoffs continues
The 2023 Liberty were the best 3-point shooting team the WNBA has ever seen. They finished first in the league in attempts per game (29.7) and percentage (37.4), en route to setting all-time records for attempts per game, makes per game (11.1), total attempts (1,187) and total makes (444).
In the playoffs, however, they've been average at best. They went 9-of-29 from 3 in Game 1, and for the postseason as a whole are now 62-of-187 from downtown. That 33.2% mark would have ranked 10th in the league during the regular season. While they've managed to overcome their poor shooting to get to the Finals, they won't be able to do the same against the Aces.
During the final four meetings between these teams in August, the Liberty went 3-1 in large part because they shot 39.3%. No team relies on the triple more than the Liberty, who scored 42.4% of their points from behind the arc in the regular season. Simply put, they need to make 3s to win, and they didn't do that on Sunday.
Aces win the rebounding battle
Rebounding is hard, physical, demanding work, and because it isn't fun to do or talk about, it often gets overlooked. However, it's one of the four factors for a reason, and it can swing games and series. That's especially true in this matchup, as the Liberty had a massive advantage on the offensive glass coming into this series.
In Game 1, though, it was the Aces who won the rebounding battle, 34-30. Most importantly, they held the Liberty to just six offensive rebounds and four second-chance points. Even more impressive is that three of the Liberty's offensive boards came on a single possession in the second quarter. Outside of that, they were largely denied access.
If the Aces can keep up this kind of work on the glass, they are likely going to win the series. That will be no easy feat, though, and they'll need to continue using a team effort. In Game 1, five different players had at least five rebounds, and Kiah Stokes chipped in four of her own.
