Liberty Driven Plum Mad, Fall to Aces in Sin City
The New York Liberty wisely avoided the casinos upon a visit to Las Vegas but still endured some costly losses.
New York's revamped roster faced off against the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces for the first time on Thursday night at Michelob Ultra Arena. Despite keeping pace with the WNBA's current queens in the first half, the Liberty were unable to overcome 17 turnovers in a 98-81 defeat. Those lapses accounted for over 22 percent of the Aces' tally and played a major role in ending the Liberty's four-game winning streak.
All five Las Vegas starters reached double figures, paced by 18 from Kelsey Plum, who also put up eight assists. Candace Parker, the Aces' lauded veteran newcomer held to a single point in a Monday win over Indiana, tied her season-best with 15. The premier five, also featuring Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and defending MVP A'ja Wilson, shot over 57 percent from the field in the win (31-of-54), which saw the hosts go up by as much as 27.
With wins in 14 of their first 15 games, the Aces (14-1) became just the third team in WNBA history to post such a record. The previous two earners, the 1998 Houston Comets and the 2016 Los Angeles Sparks, each won a championship.
Breanna Stewart had 16 points to pace the Liberty (10-4), who endured their worst loss since an opening night shellacking in Washington (16). Three more scheduled matchups between the Liberty and Aces await in August.
Despite the loss, the Liberty still managed to make history: Courtney Vandersloot became the fastest player in WNBA history (373 games) and the third player overall to earn 2,500 assists while Marine Johannés became the 10th-fastest player to earn 100 three-pointers (53 games) and the third to do it while shooting at least 40 percent from deep.
The Liberty have a chance to get back in the win column on Sunday evening when their second visit to the Pacific Northwest against the Seattle Storm wraps up a three-game road trip (6 p.m. ET, YES/CBSSN).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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