Liberty at Aces: How & Who to Watch in Sin City Slugfest

Even with a late tip-off, caffeine will hardly be necessary to stay awake for one of the most intense regular season basketball games in recent memory. The first part of a growing war for the WNBA's future will be staged on Thursday night, as the revamped New York Liberty face off against the league's current power brokers and defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces. Thursday's combatants have a combined 33 All-Star appearances and 14 championship rings between them, most of the latter lying on the fingers of the Aces.

Las Vegas has picked up right where it left off under the guidance of head coach and Liberty legend Becky Hammon. With wins in all but one of their first 14 games, the Aces have tied a WNBA record with five other teams. Three of those previous five went on to win the WNBA title.

In addition to their returning cast of champions that includes Chelsea Gray, A'ja Wilson, and Jackie Young (all of whom will partake in the upcoming WNBA All-Star Game in Vegas), the Aces also boast the talents of deep-ball threat Kelsey Plum and two-time champion Candace Parker, who came over from Chicago in the offseason.

The Liberty, winners of four in a row after Tuesday's win over the Connecticut Sun, are in the midst of a three-game road trip that will conclude in Seattle on Sunday. This is the first of four scheduled meetings between New York and Las Vegas, with the remaining trio all slated for August.

What: New York Liberty (10-3) @ Las Vegas Aces (13-1)

Where: Michelob Ultra Arena, Paradise, NV

When/Watch: Thursday, 10 p.m. ET, YES/Amazon Prime Video

Who's Favored: LVA -6.5

The Courtney Vandersloot to Betnijah Laney connection this season has a combo of cuts and spot-ups that keeps the defense guessing. #WNBATwitter pic.twitter.com/G94nNygsvJ
— Alford Corriette (@alfcorriette) June 27, 2023

New Yorker to Watch: Courtney Vandersloot

If there are any weaknesses in the Aces' statistical game, it's their rebounding: Vegas ranks 11th in offensive boards and seventh in the total department. But, like Michael Scott before them, the Aces have found a way to turn their weaknesses into strengths. The lack of boards perhaps coincides with the idea there are no opportunities for them, as Vegas is sinking almost half of its attempts from the field (league-best 49.7 percent entering Thursday action).

Sabrina Ionescu's talents and facilitation abilities speak for themselves, but the Liberty have thrived with the experience of Courtney Vandersloot, the championship counter to what Las Vegas has done. With Vandersloot in tow, the Liberty are beating Vegas in assists per game at 24, and she's responsible for 9.9 of that tally. Her scoring is down to 13 points a game and she's also pulling 4.4 rebounds, building on a career-best 5.3 from her final year in Chicago.

That's perhaps inconsequential to Vandersloot's defense: at 100, she's posting her best defensive rating since 2013 and it's gotten to the point where Betnijah Laney called her worthy of Defensive Player of the Year.

WHAT A DIME 🤯

Chelsea Gray with a beauty! pic.twitter.com/67RJc59ZHv
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 25, 2023

Ace to Watch: Chelsea Gray

Chelsea Gray's WNBA impact has been anything but subtle ... but it speaks to the Aces' firepower that a packed resume like hers perhaps gets lost in the transactional fold. Names like Plum, Wilson, and Young are the headliners (their homegrown nature likely helps) but their high-scoring efforts aren't possible without Gray getting the ball in her hands. Vandersloot leads the way in assists, but Gray has 6.6 to place third.

Gray reminded the basketball world of her game-changing abilities last season, taking home the MVP award at both the Commissioner's Cup and the WNBA Finals.

"When you talk about ‘it’ factor, she has it,” Hammon said of Gray's impact, per Andy Yamashita of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “You can’t teach it. You can always improve on things, but you can’t teach players to see the game like that. You’ve either got it or you don’t.”

They Said It

"It's all about just getting their recovery and watching a lot of film ... We prepare them and then they themselves prepare themselves. These are some of the best players in the world ... They're so professional in their preparation for the game. That's what it's all about now. We have to get the rest where we can now, so it's more about, when we do have the time together, that we're really detail oriented and thinking about how we want to play."-Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello on playing three of the top four teams over five days.

Prediction

The Liberty will be the first to admit that they haven't fully played up to the superteam label they politely despise. There's been a lot of excitement generated over the past few games and it's easy to forget that the Liberty are still a work in progress, developing chemistry and figuring out how to work with new names and skillsets.

It's not like the teams they've conquered in recent history have been slouches ... but this Vegas team is different, historically different. They're outscoring opponents by over 15 points per game, three of their established, homegrown franchise faces are among the 10 named All-Stars, and the main newcomer, Parker, is bar none one of the greatest players in the WNBA's new century affairs.

In games like these ... part one of a potential new rivalry that could change the course of the WNBA's future ... experience wins out. The Liberty have grown up in a hurry, but the Aces have played their cards right.

Aces 104, Liberty 101

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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