Stacking another win. The New York Liberty played the second of their mini-series against the Seattle Storm on Wednesday night. The Liberty won 92-86 to extend their current winning streak to three games. With the standings as jumbled as they are, the Liberty need to grab every win they can so they stay close to the competition.
The opponent today is one that doesn’t need an introduction. The Las Vegas Aces have continued to run the WNBA and are in great position to capture their fourth WNBA championship
this decade. They were on the road yesterday afternoon to face another title contender, the Minnesota Lynx. Unfortunately for Vegas, they dropped that contest 98-87.
Game Info & Broadcast Details
- Matchup: New York Liberty (19-13) vs. Las Vegas Aces (22-10)
- Date: Sunday, August 9, 2026
- Tip-off Time: 12:30 PM EST/9:30 AM PST
- Venue: Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY)
- TV Channel: ABC
- Livestream: Disney Plus
Liberty vs. Aces Injury Report: Who’s Out?
Liberty Injury Status:
- Out – Leonie Fiebich (left foot soreness)
- Out – Satou Sabally (concussion protocol)
Las Vegas Aces Injury Status:
- OUT – A’ja Wilson (rest)
- OUT – Chelsea Gray (rest)
- OUT – Jackie Young (rest)
- Out – Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (concussion protocol)
- Questionable – Justine Pissott (right leg)
The Game Breakdown: Liberty vs. Aces
New York won the first meeting (97-86 on June 24) and the Commissioner’s Cup Final (93-85 on June 30) while Las Vegas won the most recent matchup (104-99) on July 31.
If you’ve ever anticipated a great national TV matchup and suddenly became depressed at the thought of marquee players sitting because it’s the second leg of a back-to-back, then this is the game for you! The Aces big three played 33, 33, and 36 minutes respectively yesterday afternoon and with a less than 24 hour turnaround (along with travel from the central time zone to the eastern time zone) between games, you can see where Becky Hammon is coming from
It’s a shame the last regular season matchup between these two rivals may not have them at full strength. So it goes…
In the meantime, the Liberty have to be prepared for all possibilities. They can’t afford to take the Aces for granted. As we all know, the Aces have been able to overcome the odds even when at less than full strength, so look for Las Vegas to throw a bunch of curveballs at the Liberty to keep them off balance.
For New York, they’ll look to make their presence felt on the inside. New York is second in the WNBA in field goal percentage inside of three feet. Las Vegas is the second best team defending inside of three feet, but a lot of that is due to the generational excellence of A’ja Wilson. Assuming she’s out, the paint becomes more accessible for the Liberty and they’ll look to take full advantage.
Jonquel Jones remains essential to the Liberty’s plans, and she’ll look to have a better outing against the Aces than she did in the last meeting. In that game, foul trouble did her in as well as Wilson turning her game up to 100 after halftime. For JJ, she’ll look to find mismatches where they present themselves and get to work early on the inside. When she gets early position, she’s impossible to handle and for a Vegas team on the second leg of b2b AND on the last day of a long road trip, we could be in store for a big outing.
Today will be Breanna Stewart’s first outing since being named to this year’s World Cup team. Stewart has been her usual exceptional self this season, and with the FIBA break fast approaching, we’ll see how Chris DeMarco manages her workload. Stewart is fourth in the W in minutes per game this season, and any time where you can sneak her some extra rest is always welcome.
How can the Liberty keep the winning streak going?
Someone who is not making the trip with Team USA to Berlin is Sabrina Ionescu. Sab was left off the World Cup roster, and we haven’t gotten much explanation from Sue Bird and Team USA management about it. It’s a move that’s left some people puzzled, but it’s something that won’t keep Ionescu down too long.
“For her to be left off the World Cup roster, I was surprised,” Breanna Stewart said. “It’s definitely not a nice feeling for her. I feel like she’s taking it in a positive way. She’s talked about, ‘I’m going to use this time to make sure I’m really healthy and ready for our playoff push.’ It’s tough. Team USA, it’s always a tough thing when you have so much talent. But she’s going to hold her head up and she’ll be back.”
Ionescu has been working to get back to full strength throughout the year and has done very well in recent games. When she takes 10+ field goal attempts, good things happen for the Liberty. As she continues to find success from three point range, that success combined with a persistence in getting to the rim will keep the Liberty offense humming along while opening up a bevy of scoring opportunities. A great showing against the rival Aces would give Ionescu and the Liberty some more positive energy as they prepare for another tough matchup after this one.
Player to watch: Jewell Loyd
With the big stars possibly sitting this out, Loyd will return to a familiar role. She’s finished top ten in scoring and usage rate six times in her career, and assuming the starters are out/limited, she’ll have to take on more of the scoring load tonight. Loyd’s offense comes almost exclusively from the three point line these days, and is shooting a respectable 33.3 percent from deep.
From the Vault
Farewell to Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.
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
