'Resilient' Aces advance, draw familiar foe in semis

LAS VEGAS — Just over three months ago, the Las Vegas Aces had their first of three losses this WNBA season to the New York Liberty. Las Vegas fell to 6-6 then, and Aces star A’ja Wilson vowed that her team would figure things out and improve.

Now, the Aces are making their sixth consecutive WNBA semifinals appearance after a 2-0 first-round sweep of Seattle. Their opponent is the team they beat for the league title last year: the Liberty.

Las Vegas won Game 2 of its opening series 83-76 on Tuesday at Michelob Ultra Arena behind 24 points and 13 rebounds from league MVP Wilson, and 29 points and six rebounds from fellow Olympian Kelsey Plum.

Next, the No. 4-seed Aces travel to Brooklyn to face the top-seeded Liberty in a best-of-five series that begins Sunday. The Aces prevailed 3-1 in the WNBA Finals last October, but New York dominated this year’s regular-season series. The Liberty beat the Aces 90-82 on June 15, 79-67 on Aug. 17 and 75-71 on Sept. 8.

“New York is a lot better team than they were last year,” Plum said. “They’re bigger, they shoot the ball at a better clip. So credit to them.

“We have to focus on what we can do. Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy. But they kicked our butt all three times [this year.] This is a fresh start. But there’s no secret they’ve taken care of business and they’ve done what they needed to do, and that’s why they have the 1 seed. So it’s an uphill battle.”

Coach Becky Hammon said of the Liberty being motivated by last year’s Finals loss to Vegas, “They’ve been the best team all year. They played like a team pissed off, with an edge. And we’ve worked our way there. I feel like we got our edge back probably in the last three to four weeks. I don’t think we’re the same team that New York has seen [this season].”

Last year, the Aces lost only six games in the regular season and one in the playoffs. This season, they went 27-13 in the regular season and needed strong fourth quarters in both first-round games to pull away from the fifth-seeded Storm in this series.

Las Vegas outscored Seattle 14-2 in the final period in Sunday’s 78-67 victory. The game stayed tighter Tuesday, but the Aces did enough in a 21-19 fourth quarter to win.

Plum, who was 1-of-8 shooting from the field Sunday for two points, was 11 of 15 Tuesday, including 9 of 9 from 2-point range. That matched Phoenix center Brittney Griner (2014) for most 2-point makes without a miss in a playoff game. Fellow Aces guards Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, who were also on the U.S. Olympic team with Wilson and Plum, combined for 21 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists Tuesday.

This was Wilson’s 13th postseason game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, the most in WNBA history. She passed retired stars Tamika Catchings and Candace Parker, who each had 12 such games.

The Storm was 8 of 30 in the series on shots contested by Wilson, a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.

“I feel like we’re just resilient,” Wilson said of herself and fellow starters Gray, Plum and Young, who are seeking their third consecutive title together. “The core four of us, we know what it takes.”