A much needed return home. The New York Liberty closed out their four game road trip with a matchup against the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday night. The Libs played hard, but couldn’t match up and took another loss.
The opponent tonight is a familiar one. The Las Vegas Aces keep trucking along and are near the top of the WNBA standings as usual. They beat the Chicago Sky on Sunday afternoon, but suffered a loss along the way. More shortly.
Where to follow the game
Prime Video is the place to be. Tip after 7:00 p.m. ET.
Injuries
No Satou Sabally. She’s in concussion protocol.
A’ja Wilson is out with a lower leg injury. Janiah Barker and Dana Evans are out as well.
The game
New York won the first meeting.
It’s always fun to see two rivals square off in a game with some stakes. At shootaround this morning, some of the players spoke about it
That’s the good stuff!
The winner of tonight’s game gets $500,000 and the charity they’re playing for will receive a nice sum as well. Although it doesn’t count in the standings, getting some extra money for yourself and some bragging rights over your biggest rival is a nice reward.
With no Wilson, Jackie Young’s usage should scale up some. Young is one of the game’s most versatile players and does everything well. Young can score at all three levels and has been someone Becky Hammon counts on and trusts immensely. Jackie is someone who has given the Liberty fits over the years, and we’ll see how the team schemes to slow her down tonight.
For Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, their returns have been a bit rocky. Both missed extended time due to injuries and have gotten off to slow starts in their returns. New York won’t go anywhere this season if they aren’t at their peak forms, but in order to shake off the rust, you have to keep playing and fighting through the slump. The rough moments are loud, but you’ve got to get through it in order to get back to the star level of play we’re used to.
When the Liberty don’t rebound, they lose. They’ve been outrebounded in their last two losses and when they allow teams to get second and third scoring opportunities, they get burned every time. It’s something the Liberty have to clean up immediately, and it will take a team effort to correct their recent struggles. Breanna Stewart will have to lead the way for the team, and she should have a bit extra in the tank after playing a season low 26 minutes on Sunday night. It arguably could have been lower as the game was not as competitive as the final score indicated, but being back home and seeing a rival should give Stewart a bit of an energy boost tonight.
Player to watch: NaLyssa Smith
You can’t replace A’ja Wilson. She means too much to the game of basketball and is the centerpiece of everything the franchise does. With her out, things will be a lot more challenging for Becky Hammon and the Aces. Smith will have to carry the bulk of frontcourt duties tonight with Cheyenne Parker-Tyus and Brianna Turner backing her up. Vegas is going to need Smith to play her best game of the season if they want to pull off the upset, and a good showing tonight will go a long way in boosting her confidence going forward.
Jonquel Jones has been outstanding for the Liberty, and if they want to win tonight, she should be featured prominently this evening. As Lucas noted, Chris DeMarco and the coaching staff have been able to deploy her in a variety of exciting ways on the court this season. We’re getting a full picture of Jones’ all around excellence and it should lead to an All-Star appearance for her in Chicago next month. For tonight, if the Liberty are able to feature Jones early and often, they’ll put the Aces defense into difficult positions and throw off their gameplan, especially with Wilson out.
From the Vault
So, LeBron James is moving elsewhere going forward. Let’s revisit some good days
More reading: Swish Appeal, Breakaway, SB Nation, Women’s Basketball Roundup, The Local W, New York Daily News, No Cap Space, New York Post, Newsday, The Athletic, NY Liberty Fan TV, Fansided, The Stomp, Just Women’s Sports, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, and The IX Basketball
- New York Liberty Game Notes – New York Liberty
- Las Vegas Aces Game Notes – Las Vegas Aces
- Aces rule out A’ja Wilson for Commissioner Cup final vs New York after ankle tweak – Doug Feinberg – AP
- How to watch Liberty vs. Aces in WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship for free – Angela Tricario – New York Post
- Underwhelming Liberty superteam missing a championship-caliber element ($) – Madeline Kenney – New York Post
