Aces trounce Liberty in Game 3 to avoid sweep

LAS VEGAS (AP) — On the verge of elimination, the Aces showed Friday night as the two-time defending WNBA champions they weren’t ready to go quietly.

Las Vegas took control with a 16-point third-quarter run, held the Liberty without a point over a 7:36 stretch and won 95-81 to cut New York’s semifinal series lead to 2-1.

The Liberty will get another shot at closing out the Aces on Sunday. If Las Vegas wins that, a winner-take-all Game 5 will be Tuesday in New York.

This was the Aces’ 12th consecutive home playoff victory, breaking the WNBA record shared by the Los Angeles Sparks (2001-04) and Sacramento Monarchs (2003-06).

Las Vegas finally beat the Liberty for the first this time year. New York won all three regular-season meetings and the first two games of this series.

"This is when team are most dangerous, when their backs are against the wall," said Breanna Stewart, who led the Liberty with 19 points. "They’re going to throw everything at you. They came out and did what they’re supposed to do tonight."

Jackie Young led the Aces with 24 points, Kelsey Plum scored 20 points, A’ja Wilson had 19 points and 14 rebounds, Tiffany Hayes finished with 11 points and Chelsea Gray totaled 10 points and seven assists. The Aces shot 52.1%, including 40.6% from the 3-point line.

Aces coach Becky Hammon took exception after the game at the officiating when it came to Wilson, this season’s MVP for the third time. Wilson has taken 10 free throws in the three games, including two in this one.

"It’s ridiculous and I’m freakin’ tired of it," Hammon said. "... If you do the minutes she’s played to the free throw attempts, it’s one free throw probably every 25 minutes. With as much as she’s touching the ball and as much as she’s in the paint — it’s not like she’s out there chucking 3s — and how she puts it on the floor. She attacks closeouts, and she gets bumped constantly and I’m tired of it."

In addition to Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Nyara Sabally each scored 11 points for the Liberty and Leonie Fiebich had 10 points.

Sabrina Ionescu, who entered the game averaging 24.5 points in the playoffs, was held to four points on 1-of-7 shooting. She was shut out until a minute into the fourth quarter when she made a technical free throw.

"We were trying to not let her get downhill at us," Hammon said.

Las Vegas also turned up the defensive heat on the interior. After getting outscored by 20 points in the lane in Game 2, the Aces turned it around in this game with a 42-28 advantage.

"We knew they wanted to get into the paint," Gray said. "They were killing us inside. Whether it was layups, postups, (offensive) boards, we knew coming into this game, that was going to be our starting point, not on the offensive end."

A back-and-forth first half quickly became one-sided in the third quarter when the Aces turned a 57-53 lead into a 73-53 advantage. New York scored just six points in the period, and coach Sandy Brondello called two timeouts to try to stop the Aces’ momentum.

Las Vegas extended its lead to 78-55 early in the fourth quarter to cap a 21-2 run.

The game looked like it could go either way when the second half began. The first 30 minutes featured 18 lead changes and eight ties as Las Vegas took a 52-49 halftime lead.

"We’re a way better team than what we showed," Brondello said. "Even that first half we were only down by three, it just didn’t feel good."

The Aces played without Kiah Stokes, who suffered a concussion toward the end of Game 3.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic sat courtside next to teammate Dereck Lively II, coach Jason Kidd and general manager Nico Harrison. The Mavericks’ training camp was in Las Vegas this week. Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, one of the Heisman Trophy frontrunners, also were in attendance.

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