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      Aces Score Just Enough to Take W.N.B.A. Finals Lead

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      The Las Vegas Aces’ high-powered offense scored a season-low 67 points, but a double-double from A’ja Wilson, the league’s most valuable player, helped them outlast the Connecticut Sun.LAS VEGAS — The W.N.B.A. finals have many compelling story lines: two franchises, and two coaches, looking for their first title; a high-powered offense taking on a stingy defense.But those story lines faded into the background Sunday afternoon, and it quickly became A’ja Wilson’s day as she led the Las Vegas Aces to a 67-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun in Game 1.Before the game, Wilson received this year’s Most Valuable Player Award at halfcourt with her family and the league’s commissioner by her side. The M.V.P. honor was the second of her career, making her the seventh player in the W.N.B.A.’s 26 seasons to win the award more than once. As the public-address announcer called out the Aces starters’ names, Wilson ran out, high-fiving teammates amid the loudest roars for any player.Then, when the game began, she got to the basket with ease, missing only one shot on the way to 12 first-quarter points. The Aces ended the first quarter leading by 8 points, then were buoyed throughout the game by Wilson’s dominant play. She met the moment with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Game 2 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Tuesday in Las Vegas.“She can score the ball, ultimately,” Sun center Jonquel Jones said of Wilson, with a laugh. “She’s able to score on different levels. I think that’s a tough challenge. She’s attacking the rim really aggressively right now. So it’s tough.” Aces guard Chelsea Gray added 21 points, and Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Las Vegas’s win came on one of its worst offensive nights of the year, with the team’s lowest point total of both the regular season and playoffs. And Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who averaged 20.2 points per game in the regular season, struggled with just 6 points on 1-of-9 shooting.“Credit to their defense, and give credit to us for missing,” Aces Coach Becky Hammon said with a smile.Despite the loss, Coach Curt Miller and the Sun players did not seem dejected afterward, as some teams would be after losing a W.N.B.A. finals game. Miller said he was “really pleased” with how the Sun dictated the style of play to one that they were more comfortable with, forcing the league’s highest-scoring offense to struggle to find baskets. The Sun lost by a close margin despite shooting only five free throws to the Aces’ 19. “Ultimately, I’m happy with the game that we played,” Jones said, “and we gave ourselves a good opportunity to come out there and get a win. And it just didn’t go our way, but we’re excited about Game 2.” But the Aces were looking at the game from a similar perspective. They held the Sun to their lowest scoring total of the playoffs and, even while playing arguably their worst offensive game of the season, they still won. “We do take a lot of pride in getting it done on the defensive side because that’s the most important side,” Wilson said. “They can hold us to however many; we have to also hold them down as well. So if we can play on both sides of the basketball and execute on the defensive end, I got us all the way.”Two years ago, Wilson won her first M.V.P. Award, leading the Aces to their first finals appearance since moving to Las Vegas in 2018 and the franchise’s second overall. But Wilson and the Aces quickly looked like a team unprepared for the moment, as the Seattle Storm beat them by double digits in each game, including a 33-point drubbing in Game 3 to win the 2020 title. Wilson said that they were “happy to be there” in 2020 but that now they were less overwhelmed by the aura of the finals and more focused on the basketball. The Aces’ defense limited the Sun’s Courtney Williams and DeWanna Bonner, not pictured, holding them to a combined 8 points on 3-of-18 shooting.L.E. Baskow/Associated Press“We know that feeling,” Wilson said. “It sucks getting swept. It’s the worst thing ever, but that’s the chip on your shoulder. That’s the fire. That’s the grind that you want to say, ‘I don’t want to get swept anymore. I don’t even want to have a gentleman sweep.’ You want to go out there and play for your teammates because you felt the way that you felt in 2020, and you hate it.”On Sunday, the Aces showed their evolution in the two years since that finals appearance. After the Aces’ strong first quarter, the Sun responded by slowing the game down and using their physicality and height to make scoring arduous. The Sun outscored Las Vegas in the second quarter, 21-9, to take a 4-point lead into halftime.Hammon was furious in the locker room at halftime, more “lit” than she had ever been this season, she said, because “everything we talked about, we didn’t do any of it.” “I don’t even yell in my real life,” Hammon said, adding: “But when you go out there, and you don’t execute, it’s frustrating, but at the end of the day, they know it, OK. They’re smart, they get it. But they beat us in every hustle category. And that can’t happen. You can’t lose a championship or a game or quarter on hustle — that can never be the case.”Gray and Wilson began shaking their heads and laughing before they were even finished being asked to share what Hammon had said to the team. “We cannot. It is unedited. We got children watching,” Gray said with a smile, as Wilson laughed next to her, nearly uncontrollably shaking her head. “But she was just on us to play our style defensively. We were letting them get offensive rebounds, easy scores, turning over the ball,” Gray added. “That’s the edited version. I can’t give you everything.” But the Aces had been in that position before during these playoffs. In their semifinal series win against the Seattle Storm, nearly every game featured dramatic lead changes and comebacks. Hammon said the Aces’ ability to “take a punch” in that series was significant.And it showed Sunday as the Aces reclaimed the lead in the second half and held on, despite a furious rally from Connecticut down the stretch. The Aces found a way to beat the Sun at their own style of basketball to move closer to their first title.“Tonight we struggled a little bit, and we’ll be better Game 2,” Hammon said. “I already know what we’re going to do. My mind is reeling.” More

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      Connecticut Sun Complete Comeback to Reach W.N.B.A. Finals

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      Connecticut forced a decisive Game 5, then beat the reigning champion Sky and set up a finals matchup with the Las Vegas Aces.The Chicago Sky looked like they were on their way to their second straight appearance in the W.N.B.A. finals. They led Connecticut by 9 points with less than five minutes to go in the decisive Game 5, and had held the Sun to just 14 points since halftime. Sky guard Kahleah Copper was dominating, forcing turnovers, flexing her muscles and clapping her hands en route to a game-high 22 points.But that was it for the Sky: They were held scoreless for the final 4 minutes and 46 seconds of the game. The Sun used an 18-0 run to stun the Sky on their home floor, 72-63, and advance to the finals, where they will face the Las Vegas Aces starting Sunday in Las Vegas.The Sun’s win avenges their loss to the Sky in the semifinals last year. It also ends the Chicago’s quest to become the first team to repeat as W.N.B.A. champion since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002.The Sun were paced by double-doubles from Jonquel Jones (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Alyssa Thomas (12 points and 10 rebounds). Sun forward DeWanna Bonner added 15 points and 9 rebounds.Through the first three games of the series, Chicago’s Candace Parker was nearly unstoppable. She averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds to help the Sky get out to a 2-1 series lead. But in Game 4, the Sun neutralized Parker, holding her to just 11 points and 9 rebounds.And on the offensive side of the ball, the Sun dominated Parker and the Sky from the inside. The Sun have one of the tallest and most physical frontcourts in the league with Jonquel Jones (6-foot-6), Bonner (6-foot-4), Brionna Jones (6-foot-3), and Thomas (6-foot-2); they used that to their advantage to score a playoff-record 66 points from the painted area in Game 4. They beat the Sun, 104-80, achieving a franchise playoff record for points scored in a game to tie the series at two games apiece.Early in Game 5, Chicago’s offense was stagnant, with players seeming nervous to shoot the ball close to the basket for fear of being blocked by one of the Sun’s bigs. The Sun ended the first quarter down just 8 points, with Parker scoreless. In the second quarter, Copper took over. She scored 9 points to bring the game to a 40-40 tie to go into halftime with the momentum on the Sky’s side.Parker continued to struggle offensively, but she was dominant on defense, blocking four shots and grabbing three steals. The Sky held the Sun to 8 points in the third and led by 10 points heading into the final quarter. But the Sky would score just 5 points for the remainder of the game, as the Sun scored 24 to silence the Chicago crowd and advance to the finals. More

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      Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird Ends WNBA Career With Playoff Loss

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      Bird, 41, the Seattle Storm guard, had said she would retire after this season. The Storm fell to the Las Vegas Aces in the W.N.B.A. semifinals on Tuesday.Seattle Storm fans wanted one more year. Sue Bird gave it to them.She slicked back her signature ponytail, laced up her custom Nike sneakers and added to her legend with a farewell tour.When the Storm set a W.N.B.A. single-game assists record for the regular season with 37, eight of them were hers. She stretched her formidable margin as the league’s career leader in assists and inched higher on the steals and 3-point lists. She helped the Storm make the playoffs for the 16th time in the 19 seasons she played.And then she was done.The Las Vegas Aces beat the Storm, 97-92, in Game 4 of their semifinal series on Tuesday to advance to the W.N.B.A. finals. For Bird, 41, who had said in June that she would retire after the season, the loss on her home court marked the end of an incredible career. As fans cheered and chanted “Thank you, Sue,” Bird stood on the court and cried.At a postgame news conference, Bird said that she hadn’t wanted to leave the court so that she could “soak it all in.” She started to cry again. “I know the tears don’t look like happy tears, but there’s a lot of happiness,” she said.Bird retires as the W.N.B.A.’s career leader in assists and games played. She had 8 points and 8 assists against the Aces on Tuesday.Lindsey Wasson/Associated PressAces Coach Becky Hammon said it was “bittersweet” to have defeated Bird to end her “fairy-tale” career. Bird had 8 points and 8 assists in the loss.“I kind of feel like the girl that beat Serena,” Hammon said, referring to Ajla Tomljanovic, who beat Serena Williams in her final match at the U.S. Open last week. Williams had said she planned to retire after the tournament.Storm Coach Noelle Quinn, who also played with Bird in Seattle, called Bird “the best point guard to ever play this game.”Bird won four championships with Seattle, the last in 2020. That season showcased the traits that have come to define her: resilience and keen court vision. She missed half of the regular season with injuries. But she proved invaluable during Seattle’s six postseason games. Seattle never lost during that playoff run. Bird set a then-W.N.B.A. record for assists in a playoff game with 16 in Game 1 of the finals against the Aces. Then she had a double-double — 16 points and 10 assists — in Game 2. In the series-clinching Game 3, Bird spent the end of the fourth quarter on the bench laughing with forward Breanna Stewart. The Storm won by 33.“The fact that I’m sitting here, I think I’m having this, like, in-shock moment, because it doesn’t really feel real that we just won and that I was able to contribute in the way that I did,” she said afterward.Much of Bird’s 21-year career has come as a surprise, if only because there wasn’t enough time for someone to accomplish such feats before her. “I really didn’t know what to dream,” Bird told The New York Times last month, “and so to sit here now with all the championships I have, I just feel really satisfied.”The Storm drafted her No. 1 overall in 2002 out of UConn before the W.N.B.A.’s sixth season. She immediately became Seattle’s franchise leader in assists, with 191 that year. She came in second for the Rookie of the Year Award, but she and the player who beat her — Indiana’s Tamika Catchings — became the first rookies ever named to the All-W.N.B.A. first team.Fans celebrated Bird with signs and T-shirts all season.Steph Chambers/Getty ImagesAmong parting gifts Bird received was this jacket from the Minnesota Lynx’s Sylvia Fowles, who also retired this season.David Berding/Getty ImagesOver the next 20 years, Bird would pile up honors, including a record 13 W.N.B.A. All-Star selections and five Olympic gold medals with the United States. Last year, she was voted to the W25, the W.N.B.A.’s list of the top 25 players ever as the league celebrated its 25th anniversary.“These athletes have played the game at the highest level on the court — they are scorers and rebounders, assist makers and defensive stoppers, leaders and mentors,” W.N.B.A. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in announcing the W25. She added, “Together, they have transformed the way the game is played, changed the way athletes are viewed, become incredible role models and inspired generations of young, diverse athletes.”Bird, who is engaged to the women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe, is one of the most visible gay professional athletes. For most of the W.N.B.A.’s history, its most prominent stars were not openly gay, and players have said that they felt pressured to conform to heterosexual standards of femininity. But Bird is among a wave of stars — including Brittney Griner, Seimone Augustus, Elena Delle Donne and Diana Taurasi — who have been open about their sexuality and spoken about L.G.B.T.Q. rights and acceptance.Bird has also used her platform as one of the league’s biggest stars to support social justice causes, especially regarding Black women. And as the W.N.B.A. continues to push for the release of Griner, who has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February, Bird has been vocal.“We all feel rattled by this and just want her home,” Bird said at a news conference with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, in July.Bird wearing custom Nike sneakers from the signature line of the N.B.A. star Kyrie Irving.Steph Chambers/Getty ImagesBird’s off-the-court influence has gone beyond politics to style. She is known for her love of sneakers, and her custom Nikes — from the signature line of the N.B.A. star Kyrie Irving — have “Keep Sue Fresh” printed on them each night.But the core of Bird’s legacy is on the court.“That’s a legendary player right there,” said Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who scored 31 points and fueled Las Vegas’s victory in Bird’s final game.Stewart, who had 42 points in Game 4 for Seattle, said that knowing it would be her last game with Bird was more “devastating” than losing.“That’s what hurts the most,” she said, adding that Bird had been a mentor and friend.Storm guard Jewell Loyd said the Game 4 loss was “obviously not how we wanted to finish for her.”Loyd added, “We’ve been very fortunate to play with a generational player like Sue.”Bird said though her body felt good, she was not having second thoughts about retiring. But she will miss basketball.“There’s going to be nothing like this,” she said.Bird gave fans someone to believe in until the end. Her final points in the W.N.B.A. came on a layup with 21.8 seconds to go on Tuesday and Seattle down by 6. It was reminiscent of a play on Sunday, in Game 3. The Storm turned to her when they were down by 1 point with less than two seconds to go. She sank a 3-pointer and held her follow-through, as her teammates went wild around her. Seattle would lose to the Aces in overtime, but that play was what this final season was for.One more chance to celebrate. One last moment with Bird.Bird hit a 3-pointer in Game 3 of the W.N.B.A. semifinals against the Aces, giving the Storm a 2-point lead with less than two seconds to go.Lindsey Wasson/Associated Press More

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      W.N.B.A. Semifinals Check-In: Can’t. Stop. Candace. Parker.

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      Both semifinals series are tied, 1-1. The Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm have shown offensive power, while the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky dig in on defense.As Chicago Sky guard Kahleah Copper and Connecticut Sun guard Courtney Williams tussled over the basketball in Game 1 of their W.N.B.A. semifinal series, Sky forward Candace Parker walked down the court, waving her hands in the air to ignite the Chicago crowd. The moment reflected how physical the series had been, and it was reminder of the teams’ history.In 2021, the sixth-seeded Sky beat the top-seeded Sun in the semifinals en route to winning the championship, a title that has that has eluded the Sun. If the Sky win the title this season, they will be the first team to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-2. After the Sky’s 85-77 victory in Game 2, the best-of-five series is tied at one game apiece.Sky forward Azurá Stevens said the series is “just about who wants it more, because they have beef with us from last year.”On the other side of the bracket, the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm are also tied at 1-1. The series features some of the most recognizable names in the league and seven former No. 1 overall draft picks: Sue Bird (2002), Tina Charles (2010), Jewell Loyd (2015) and Breanna Stewart (2016) for Seattle; and Kelsey Plum (2017), A’ja Wilson (2018) and Jackie Young (2019) for Las Vegas.This is a rematch of the 2020 W.N.B.A. finals, in which the Storm swept the Aces and Stewart was named the most valuable player of the series. Stewart also won the award after leading the Storm to the title in 2018. If Seattle wins its fifth championship this year, it will break a tie with the Minnesota Lynx and Houston Comets for the most in W.N.B.A history. The Aces are still looking for their first title.Game 3 in each series is Sunday. Here is a look at how the teams have fared so far.No. 1 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 4 Seattle StormChelsea Gray has been the Las Vegas Aces’ leading scorer against the Seattle Storm.Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesThe Aces were the best offensive team in the W.N.B.A. this year. They led the league in points per game (90.4) and offensive efficiency (109.6). Four starters averaged at least 10 points per game: Plum (20.2), Wilson (19.5), Young (15.9) and Chelsea Gray (13.7).Through the first two games of the series against the Storm, Gray has arguably been the Aces’ most important player, managing the offense and scoring, and making pinpoint passes at crucial moments. She’s leading the team in points (21) and assists (6) per game during the playoffs.But Las Vegas has struggled in the first quarter.In Game 2, the Aces matched the Storm almost point-for-point in the first seven minutes and got out to a 16-13 lead. Then a 3 by Seattle’s Stephanie Talbot tied the game and sparked a 10-0 run that pushed the Storm toward a seven-point advantage going into the second quarter. The first quarter of Game 1 was similar, as the Aces gave up 26 points and trailed by 11 at the end of the period.Stewart and Loyd combined for 50 points on 52.8 percent shooting in Seattle’s Game 1 win. Stewart dominated most of the game, and Loyd scored 10 of the Storm’s final 12 points and assisted on the other basket. Her most impressive basketball of that tear came with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game, with the Storm holding a 1-point lead and Wilson — the defensive player of the year — guarding her at the 3-point line. Loyd crossed from her right to left hand before stepping back and knocking down a long 2-pointer over Wilson’s outstretched arms.But Loyd struggled in the Game 2 loss.Loyd finished 2 of 10 from the field and 0 for 3 from the 3-point line for just 8 points. While Stewart tallied 32 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, the only other Storm player in double figures was Charles, who scored 17 points on 17 shot attempts. The good sign for the Storm is that even with Loyd’s struggles, they were in the game until the end.No. 2 Chicago Sky vs. No. 3 Connecticut SunJonquel Jones has helped the Connecticut Sun outrebound the Sky.Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesThe Sky have struggled in Game 1s this postseason, losing both at home. The Sun benefited from that in their semifinal series, but they have felt the pain of playing against Parker.The Sun had the second-best defensive rating in the league in the regular season (96.3), and they held the Sky to their lowest point total of the season in their 68-63 Game 1 victory. But Parker still had an astounding stat line: 19 points, 18 rebounds, 6 blocks, 5 assists and 4 steals. All of that and she had just 2 turnovers.Parker is doing almost everything for the Sky on the floor. She had another impressive stat line in Game 2 with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks in the win. She also hit 3 of 4 3-pointers.The most challenging part about playing the Sky is that on any given night, a different player, or multiple players, could go for 20 points. The stat line doesn’t show Parker’s effectiveness in keeping the Sky’s offensive churning: After rebounds, she often looks ahead to Copper, who is often already behind the defense for a score.The Sky’s roster is among the best in the W.N.B.A., and they breezed to a franchise-best 26 wins because of it. Still, the Sun’s physical frontcourt, with Jonquel Jones (6-foot-6), DeWanna Bonner (6-foot-4), Brionna Jones (6-foot-3) and Alyssa Thomas (6-foot-2), has outrebounded the Sky in the series, 86-65. The rebounding advantage didn’t hinder the Sky from picking up a win in Game 2 and nearly securing Game 1, when Parker had 18 rebounds. But they will need a group effort to neutralize the Sun’s size. More

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      Liberty Reflect on a Season of Changes

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      Under a first-year coach, the young team dealt with injuries and inconsistency before losing in the first round of the W.N.B.A. playoffs to the reigning champion Chicago Sky.Two words echoed among the Liberty’s players in the days before the start of the W.N.B.A. season: “defense” and “identity.”They said they needed to get better on defense. (And they did do that.)They said they wanted to be known as a tough and winning team. (They won, but not as much as they had hoped.)Then two new words forced their way into the Liberty vocabulary during a season of injuries, comebacks and losses: “adversity” and “resilience.”“Being along for the ride through a lot of the adversity that we faced this season is something that I’ll definitely learn from,” Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu said.She continued: “It’s just helped me understand what it takes to win, and sometimes those wins weren’t pretty, but we found a way.”The Liberty’s season ended Tuesday with a first-round playoff loss to the Chicago Sky, the No. 2 seed and the league’s defending champions. The best-of-three series, like the Liberty’s season, showed the team’s promise, and its pitfalls. On Thursday, as several players and Coach Sandy Brondello reflected on the year, they praised one another for persevering but wished that they hadn’t needed to be so resilient.“We saw glimpses of just how great we can be regardless of what was going on, regardless of injury, regardless of record, regardless of just really any kind of obstacle that we were dealing with,” said Betnijah Laney, who missed most of the season because of a knee injury.She added: “And still being able to make that playoff push was really good for us. And just imagine if we had all of that the entire season where we would’ve ended up: We’d probably still be playing right now.”The Liberty opened the season with a tight win at home over the Connecticut Sun, then plunged into a seven-game losing streak. They lost both Laney and Jocelyn Willoughby to injuries during the streak, a blow for a team hoping to make its name on defense and toughness. Brondello said Laney, a 2021 All-Star, was the team’s toughest player and Willoughby was one of its best defenders. Other players were in and out of the lineup all season with a variety of maladies, including a concussion, a hamstring injury and a chin laceration.It was difficult to build chemistry, which is important for every team but especially a young one with a new head coach. Brondello was in her first season with the Liberty after eight seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, a veteran team that won a championship in her first season there in 2014. She said coaching the Liberty had required more teaching and patience, but she did not have to deal with anything that she had not seen before.Before the season, Brondello said she hoped to build a tough, defensive team with an “aggressive mentality.” The Liberty were that kind of team at times — when they went on a 13-0 run to seal a Game 1 playoff victory against the Sky in Chicago — but their inconsistency cost them. A 16-0 Sky run in the fourth quarter of the decisive Game 3 in Brooklyn pushed a victory out of reach.“They need to feel pressure,” Brondello said of her team’s young players, adding that she would look to add more experienced players during the off-season.“We’re just a few pieces off,” she said.Ionescu, 24, who was named to her first All-Star team this year, was the team’s top scorer with 17.4 points per game and led the Liberty with 6.3 assists per game. Forward Natasha Howard, a past defensive player of the year, led the Liberty in rebounds (7.3) and steals (1.3) per game. Ionescu, who had two triple-doubles this season, was just behind Howard with 7.1 rebounds per game. More

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      Chicago Sky Silence Liberty Crowd With Game 3 Win

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      The Chicago Sky had to play the decisive game of their first-round series against the Liberty on the road — unusual for a team tied for the best record in the W.N.B.A.As the public address announcer at Barclays Center called the names of the Chicago Sky starters, the deafening boos of the white-knuckled Liberty fans filling the stands drowned out his voice.Boos are typical for any team playing in an opposing arena but uncommon for one like the Sky, who tied for the league’s best record in the regular season and, on this night, were in the decisive game of a playoff series against a team that sneaked into the playoffs as the seventh seed. Home-court advantage in big moments is supposed to be the reward for having a better record. Not this time.The W.N.B.A. switched playoff formats this season, replacing a single-elimination opening round with best-of-three series that put the lower seed at home in Game 3. Sky Coach James Wade has said that he is “not a fan of it at all.”Still, the raucous environment didn’t seem to bother the No. 2-seeded Sky on Tuesday. With the boos raining down, the starters went through their special handshake routines with guard Kahleah Copper, then propelled Chicago to a 90-72 victory over the Liberty in Game 3 to win their first-round series. The Sky advanced to the semifinals, where they will play the winner of Wednesday night’s matchup between the Connecticut Sun and the Dallas Wings.Chicago won its first-ever championship last season and, with a win this year, would be the first W.N.B.A. team to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002.On Tuesday, Copper and guard Allie Quigley led the Sky with 15 points apiece, and forward Candace Parker added a near triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. Betnijah Laney led the Liberty with 15 points.Quigley said the crowd energy played a role in the game and that she wished the Sky could have hosted the first and final games, instead of the first two. “I do remember the crowd at one point and just all the towels flying, and I’m like, ‘All right, we’ve got to figure it out,’” Quigley said with a laugh.Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty’s All-Star guard, didn’t have much of an impact in the first three quarters, with just 9 points. But even with her low-scoring output, the Liberty were only down 10 points after the third quarter. When the final period began, Ionescu attacked the basket and scored 2 points while drawing a foul. She missed the free throw, but collected the rebound a few steps behind the 3-point line and launched the ball, scoring again.The 3-pointer sent the crowd into a frenzy. The Sky called a timeout, and fans swung Liberty towels in the air and roared. After Wade addressed the team, Parker huddled with her teammates and spoke emphatically before the group returned to the floor.Parker missed a 3-pointer out of the timeout, and the Liberty got the rebound. Laney hit a layup to cut the Sky lead to 3, reigniting the crowd. But the run ended there. The Sky scored 16 unanswered points, which effectively ended the game.The Sky fell apart in Game 1, losing after the Liberty went on a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter. But Chicago has played like a different team since.“I think we saw a version of ourselves that we fell in love with,” Copper said, “and that we want to grow on, and there’s just no going back.”The Sky set a W.N.B.A. playoff record for the largest margin of victory with a 38-point win against the Liberty in Game 2.“We done set the tone, so anything under that is just unacceptable,” Copper said. “We know how we want to play, and we know what we’re capable of. And that’s what we’re going to do.”Despite the 18-point margin of victory in Game 3, the win didn’t come easily, even from the start. The Liberty responded to most of the Sky’s scores early, keeping the game tight for much of the first quarter.Copper, who willed the Sky to their Game 2 victory, helped Chicago stay ahead in the first quarter with a steal and 6 points that included a tough layup over the outstretched arms of multiple Liberty defenders. Sky guards Courtney Vandersloot and Quigley helped extend the lead with 21 of the Sky’s 54 points in the first half. Vandersloot also had four assists in the first half.Liberty Coach Sandy Brondello said “the more experienced team won tonight.” But she was proud of how her team bounced back from the 38-point loss in Game 2 and is looking forward to improving next season, she said.“Even when we were losing, we thought we were getting better,” Brondello said. She added: “I think with a few extra players, we can be more aggressive, and that will help us moving forward.”Liberty forward Natasha Howard, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds, said she was impressed with how the team remained focused despite losing games and dealing with the many “ups and downs” of the 2022 season. Laney, who missed most of the season with a knee injury, echoed Howard.“I think we grew a lot individually and as a team,” Laney said, “and that’s what it’s going to take. It’s going to take a team to come out and get to the goal we want.” More

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      Kahleah Copper Leads Sky in Rout of Liberty in Game 2

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      The Liberty stunned Chicago in Game 1, then the Sky returned the favor with a record-setting win in Game 2.One thing was evident early in the Game 2 playoff matchup between the Chicago Sky and the Liberty: If the Sky were going to lose their first-round series, it would not be because of Kahleah Copper.Copper looked eager to get the game going before tipoff on Saturday, bouncing up and down on the court, clapping her hands and energetically talking with teammates. After the ball was tipped, she blew by Liberty defenders for tough layups, yelled after the finishes and took on the challenge of guarding Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty’s All-Star guard.Copper finished with 10 points in the first quarter, matching the Liberty’s total score and propelling Chicago to a 21-point lead that all but ended the game. The Liberty never recovered from Copper’s first-quarter barrage and the Sky won, 100-62, to tie the best-of-three series at one game apiece. Game 3 is on Tuesday at Barclays Center.“I definitely approached this game with a chip on my shoulder,” Copper said. “We lost at home in front of our crowd who shows up consistently and gives us everything, so it was important for us to respond.”Sky Coach James Wade said the Game 1 loss woke the team up, inspiring them to play Saturday’s game with an intensity that matched how the team had approached games throughout the season. Guard Courtney Vandersloot echoed Wade’s sentiments and said that they came into the game with a “different mentality.”“I think you saw a different team tonight, and we feel like a different team,” she said.Copper ignited the crowd in the first quarter after she connected on a corner 3-pointer in front of the Sky bench, turned, and ran down the floor with three fingers raised. She gave Wade a high five as she passed him. The Liberty called timeout.The Sky’s 38-point win set a W.N.B.A. record for the largest margin of victory in playoff history. (The Sky held the previous record, with a 36-point victory in Game 3 of last year’s finals against the Phoenix Mercury.)“I expected this from Chicago, but I didn’t think it would be such a butt-kicking,” Liberty Coach Sandy Brondello said. She added that she was disappointed with the way the Liberty let Copper and other players “drive right by them,” along with their poor decision-making and 19 turnovers.“We’re not built like them,” she said. “We don’t have a Copper that can drive by anyone. Our one-on-one defense has to be better.”The Sky won their first W.N.B.A. championship in 2021 largely because of Copper’s fearless playing style and her ability to elevate her game — and that of her teammates — in the biggest moments. After the Sky lost Game 2 of the finals last season, Copper outscored the Mercury’s starting five in the first half of Game 3. She was named the most valuable player of the finals.So, with the Sky on the brink of elimination on Saturday, Copper performed how her teammates and Wade expected her to. And Wade made point of calling out a recent ESPN ranking that listed Copper as the 17th best player in the playoffs. “I know she’s probably the 17th best player in the playoffs right now, but you know, we’ll take that 17,” Wade deadpanned.Copper’s scores came from a variety of acrobatic layups in which she twisted and turned in the air before finishing. She has become known for her superb touch around the basket, which Vandersloot said is somewhat unfortunate because Copper’s stellar finishes have become expected.“She has such a unique ability to finish through contact, and through multiple players, and she makes it look easy and what she’s doing is not easy,” Vandersloot said. “But you know, she’s kind of our engine, and when she’s doing that, we’re special.”Copper’s crucial performance came a day after the Sky looked like they might have to play without her. She left the Sky’s Friday practice early after an unspecified injury. Wade dismissed questions about the injury and told reporters before the game on Saturday that she was “fine.” Copper looked healthy as she led all scorers with 20 points, and nagged the Liberty — especially Ionescu — all over the court, earning three steals. Wade said Copper’s ability to play both ends of the floor is what makes her special, and that her defense is an undervalued part of her game.“Her ability to be disruptive and then, on the other end, get us a bucket and actually draw the defense in, it sets a tone,” Wade said. “And the tone is what we need, and she was able to do that tonight, and she does that most nights for us.”Michaela Onyenwere said Chicago “exploited” them in multiple ways, mainly with their toughness. That was the most disappointing aspect of the loss because the Liberty expected the Sky to play that way but “faltered to the pressure,” she said.“I think just looking at ourselves first, I think, is the first thing we start with,” she said. “Continue to play together and continue to know that this is our season that’s on the line. So you know, I believe wholeheartedly that we will respond better than we did today.”The loss for the seventh-seeded Liberty came after they stunned the No. 2-seeded Sky in Chicago in the first game of the series on Wednesday. In that game, the Liberty held Chicago scoreless for the final 3 minutes 31 seconds and went on a 13-0 run, winning 98-91. But on Saturday they did not look like the team that accomplished that feat; Brondello said it was because “we went away from what we wanted to accomplish here and playing together as a team.”She added: “But it’s nice to know we have, you know, we have one more game, and hopefully, we can bring a better effort and hopefully the result will be positive.” More

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      Liberty Guard Sabrina Ionescu’s Historic WNBA Season, By the Numbers

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      Ionescu, the All-Star Liberty guard, had a historic season in her third year that helped propel her team to the playoffs.After a serious ankle injury in her rookie season and a somewhat tentative second year, Sabrina Ionescu has in her third year hit the kind of heights everyone expected of her, and her Liberty are back in the W.N.B.A. playoffs.The No. 7 Liberty will face the No. 2 Chicago Sky — the defending champions — on Wednesday for Game 1 of a best-of-three series in the opening round.When the Liberty drafted Ionescu No. 1 overall in 2020, hopes were high. The team had been terrible for two seasons, but Ionescu had been a transcendent star at Oregon, where she had an N.C.A.A. record 26 triple-doubles. She seemed like the kind of player who could turn a team around almost by herself.In just her second game in the W.N.B.A., she fired in 33 points, including six 3-pointers, added 7 rebounds and 7 assists and had fans thrilled about the future.That future turned sour quickly when, in her third game, she went down with a severe ankle injury that would keep her out for the rest of the season.Without her, and without their veteran star Tina Charles, who had been traded away, the team was abysmal, finishing 2-20.Ionescu drove the Liberty’s offense this season, leading the team in scoring and assists.Sean D. Elliot/The Day, via Associated PressThe team bounced back in 2021 and sneaked into the playoffs, but it was a group effort led by Betnijah Laney, Natasha Howard (after a return from injury), Sami Whitcomb and Michaela Onyenwere, who was named the rookie of the year, that pushed them there. Although Ionescu played a full season, her scoring game fell a bit short of what might have been expected.Not that she didn’t help the team, but it was in a more supporting role: Though she was among the league’s assist leaders, she averaged just 11.7 points a game and dealt with lingering ankle pain. She was often the third or fourth scoring option.But in her third season, Ionescu has stepped forward, and she was named to her first All-Star team. She has improved in almost every category, playing more minutes, shooting at a higher percentage and increasing her rebounding, assists and steals numbers while reducing her turnovers.Notably, she has taken a more prominent role in the offense, shooting about 14 times a game to lead the team, up from just under 10 times a game last season, leading her to score a team-high 17.4 points a game. Playing in all 36 games helped her make the league’s top 10 in total points, assists and rebounds, the only player to do so. And her rebounding numbers are especially impressive since she is the Liberty’s main ballhandler.Ionescu also made history in her third season, becoming the first player ever to record a triple-double in three quarters and, separately, the first player ever to score at least 30 points as part of a triple-double. Those two triple-doubles brought her into a tie with Chicago’s Candace Parker for the most career triple-doubles, with three.Ionescu’s step forward, as well as having Howard available the whole season, helped the Liberty return to the playoffs and weather the loss of Laney for much of the season with a knee injury.Last season, the Liberty lost their single-elimination playoff game, 83-82, to the Phoenix Mercury. Ionescu had 14 points and 11 assists, but she missed a 30-foot desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game.Ionescu shot better from 3 this season than last season, good enough to be fifth in the league for 3-pointers made.Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesThe team has a chance to rectify that in the opening round of the playoffs this year, which will be best of three instead of single elimination. But even with Laney’s return, the odds are long. Eight of the 12 W.N.B.A. teams make the playoffs, leaving room for teams that finished under .500, including the Liberty (16-20).A matchup against the strong Sky (26-10) with All-Stars such as Parker, Kahleah Copper, Courtney Vandersloot and Emma Meesseman, and with the first two games in Chicago, will be tough for the Liberty.The Liberty are one of the eight founding W.N.B.A. franchises and the only one still in its original city that has never won the W.N.B.A. title. Its last decade has been especially fallow, with just one trip to the semifinals or conference finals.Like any team, the Liberty will need to acquire talent, draft shrewdly and catch some breaks to step up to championship quality. But more than anything else, they will have to rely on Ionescu to continue playing at the stellar level she did this year. Or preferably, given that she is still only 24, to get even better. More