There is life for the Liberty, after all.
Following an embarrassing Game 2 loss to put their season on the brink, New York stayed alive with an 87-73 victory over the Las Vegas Aces in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon. It was the franchise’s first WNBA Finals win since Sept. 4, 1999.
The Liberty used a stifling third quarter to build an advantage that was just large enough to hold on to. It outscored the Aces 18-10 in the frame which included a 14-4 run to build a lead as large as 14.
From allowing 104 points to drop into a 2-0 series hole, the Liberty’s defense stifled the Aces, holding the reigning league champions to just 33.3% shooting from the field while forcing 11 turnovers.
Liberty star forward Jonquel Jones went off for 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including an impressive 4-of-7 showing from the three-point range. Breanna Stewart had her most efficient game of the Finals, dropping 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting while Sabrina Ionescu put up 11 assists with nine points.
“We took it personal,” Jones said. “We watched the film and the film doesn’t lie. We took it personal. We came out here and we played with heart.”
Energized from the desperation of its season hanging in the balance and the energy from Barclays Center, the Liberty utilized an 11-2 run in the latter portions of the first quarter to take its largest lead of the WNBA Finals at nine, 21-12.
Las Vegas responded with a 9-0 run to tie it early in the second quarter entirely through a flourish from Kelsey Plum, who scored 28 points in the loss, but New York did well to stay with them.
An immediate 7-0 run gave them a bit of a cushion to work with, but they were unable to pull away despite Jones dropping 10 of her 18 first-half points. A one-footed fallaway jumper with 1:58 to go in the half had the Liberty up seven, but four straight points from Chelsea Gray drew Las Vegas to within three.
Plum had a golden chance to knot things up going into the locker rooms after a late Liberty turnover, but her buzzer-beating three-point attempt clanged out to keep New York up 43-40 at the break.
New York got back to work in the third to come out of the gates with an 8-0 run and never looked back. As the run grew to 14-4, the Liberty held the Aces to just 1-of-11 from the field.
The roof was blown off Barclays Center in the final two minutes of the third quarter when Stewart blocked an A’ja Wilson jumper ¨— the first time all series the Aces star had a shot blocked — before Jones knocked down a three-pointer to put the Liberty up 14. In total, the Liberty blocked eight shots on the night in a defensive showing that made Game 2 seem like a performance from an entirely different decade.
Las Vegas cut its deficit to as small as six midway through the fourth, but the Liberty was simply uncatchable. Jones’ fourth and final three-pointer of the day with 2:47 to go helped re-extend the lead to 13 before a pair of Stewart free throws made it a 15-point advantage with 2:22 left.
The sold-out Barclays Center crowd set a WNBA record for the highest gate receipt ever with an announced attendance of 17,143.
Game 4 of the WNBA Finals will be Wednesday night as the Liberty looks to continue its comeback in search of a first-ever title.
