Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson (22) reacts after a play against the New York Liberty during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The New York Liberty’s first WNBA Finals game in 21 years looked just like that on Sunday evening as they were run out of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas by the Aces 99-82 to fall into an early best-of-five championship series hole.
Outscored 53-33 in the second half, the Liberty were overwhelmed by the Las Vegas defense, failing to live up to the expectations created of a gargantuan series that features two teams that have combined to post the highest winning percentage between WNBA Finals combatants in league history.
New York, which set a WNBA record by averaging 11 three-pointers per game, made nine but eight of them came in the first half. They converted at a paltry 31% clip (9-of-29) while making just one shot from deep in the second half while also committing 11 turnovers on the day.
Aces guard Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum dropped playoff-career-highs of 26 points in Game 1, supported by 19 points with eight rebounds from A’Ja Wilson. Chelsea Gray tortured the Liberty, too, with 20 points and nine assists to facilitate a vaunted Vegas offense.
Marine Johannès managed to be the difference for the Liberty off the bench in the first half. While New York’s starters shot 27% from the field in the opening stanza, Johannes dropped 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, which included going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to help the visitors take a 49-46 halftime lead.
In the first five games of the WNBA playoffs, she had recorded just five points on 2-of-13 shooting (1-of-10 from three-point range).
But she wouldn’t record a single point for the rest of the game.
Wilson and the Aces took over in the second half with the two-time defending defensive player of the year controlling both ends of the floor. While Young recorded 11…
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