FSM Essential Recap: Aces vs Liberty - Game 22 - 2022

FSM Essential Recap: Aces vs Liberty – Game 22 – 2022

Franchise Sports Media

Las Vegas Aces (15-7)  |  New York Liberty (9-12)

 

 

The Las Vegas Aces’ defense failed to show up for a consecutive game, giving up 116 points on Wednesday night in a 116-107 home loss to the New York Liberty.

 

DEFENSE HITS A LOW

The Las Vegas Aces have now lost five of seven games, dropping them from first to second in the standings. The common denominator in the losses has been the Aces‘ abysmal defense. Wednesday’s 116 points given to the Liberty marked a franchise-best output for New York. Sandy Brondello’s squad also set franchise-best marks for assists in a game (35) and 3-point makes (18), which also tied a WNBA record.

The 116 points allowed was the third time in the last seven games that Las Vegas had given up at least 100 points in a game, something that hadn’t happened over the first 15 games of the season. And the reasons for these ridiculous stats are the Aces‘ inability to defend the 3-point line.

From Sabrina Ionescu to Han Xu, the Liberty tee’d up open three after open three from the opening tip. It came in all facets of the offense — pick-and-pop, transition, effective playcalling, etc. And it had the Aces‘ offense all out of sorts. As the score ran up without slowing, Vegas was beaten at its own game, on its own court.

But as you might have guessed, this is not specific to Wednesday night’s game against New York. All but one of the Aces‘ last seven opponents (the Sparks) have connected on at least ten threes. It’s an area of the game that is increasingly concerning for Becky Hammon‘s squad as they continue to drop games. They’ll need to figure out how to shore up that area.

 

THE BENCH (FINALLY) SHOWS UP

There isn’t room for moral victories during the worst stretch of the season, but if there were one, it would be that the Aces‘ bench finally had an impactful game. All three players who got off the pine made shots and were especially crucial in the first half when A’ja Wilson left the court with a head injury. Iliana Rupert scored 13 points and made three out of four 3-pointers, while Riquna Williams had seven points and Kiah Stokes had four.

The stellar outing from the bench was only second to New York‘s. The Liberty’s 6’10” center Han Xu scored 24 points to match the output of the Aces‘ bench. And while she was fantastic, she was even the player of the game — Sabrina Ionescu took that crown. Ionescu dropped six threes en route to a 31-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist performance, which was the first 30-point triple-double in the history of the WNBA.

 

TOP PERFORMERS:

A’ja Wilson (Aces) – 29 PTS, 9 REBS, 4 ASTS, 2/2 3PT

Jackie Young (Aces) – 24 PTS, 4 REBS, 2 ASTS, 2/2 3PT

Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty) – 31 PTS, 13 REBS, 10 ASTS, 6/7 3PT

Han Xu (Liberty) – 24 PTS, 8 REBS, 3 ASTS, 2/2 3PT

Natasha Howard (Liberty) – 18 PTS, 6 REBS, 3 ASTS, 1/2 3PT

 

Las Vegas head into the All-Star break on a low note. Having lost two in a row and five of seven, they’ll have five days to sit on their recent play before lacing ’em back up on Tuesday, July 12th on the road against the Liberty. Before then, you can check out A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Dearica Hamby on Sunday in the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago.

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-Cole Huff– Franchise Sports Media