Liberty Land Early Jackpot in Finals Rematch

The New York Liberty took home the first of three WNBA Finals rematches over the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday afternoon.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

Quitting while you're ahead is often the best advice one can accept in Las Vegas. The New York Liberty, however, bucked trends in a WNBA Finals rematch on Saturday afternoon.

Partly sustained by yet another fantastic fourth quarter, the New York Liberty silenced Sin City with a 90-82 victory over the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena. Saturday marked the first meeting between the Liberty and Aces since the latter secured back-to-back titles in October at Barclays Center.

Jonquel Jones set a new career-high in scoring with 34 points on 12-of-16 from the field while Sabrina Ionescu (15 points, 12 assists) put up her first double-double of the season next to that of Breanna Stewart's (14 points, 12 rebounds).

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

"It was the trust. I think we trusted each other to make the right plays and do what we're really good at. We all did that tonight," Jones said of the biggest difference between Saturday's game and October's series. "Sabrina got downhill and found people with 12 assists. Everybody just did what they're good at and understood that it's not an individual thing. We're all there for each other, especially defensively. I think we were scrambling really well late, making them take really tough shots."

New York (12-2) outscored its interconference foe 23-16 in the final period to put the finishing touches on its eighth win in a row before Las Vegas put in six quick ones in the last minute to somewhat beautify the tally. Defending Finals MVP A'ja Wilson was limited to two points over the final 10 minutes, leading to the end of her WNBA-record eight-game streak of scoring at least 25 points.

The Liberty are the latest to take advantage of the shorthanded defending champions, who are still missing the services of the injured Chelsea Gray. Las Vegas (6-6) has now lost four of five despite the continued efforts of Stewart's fellow MVP Wilson and other world-class talents like Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.

The Liberty leaped out to an eight-point lead after the opening 10 behind some sterling three-point prowess, hitting all but one of their first eight with an extra point on the line to counter a united 7-of-9 tally from Wilson and Alysha Clark. Las Vegas then narrowed the gap to two thanks to a Plum outburst, as she hit each of her first six tries from the field. A 10-2 run at the onset of the third, capped off by a Plum floater, put the Aces up by six and perhaps conjured morbid metropolitan memories of last fall.

But a 14-0 Liberty response, one that shockingly featured no three-pointers, created a permanent lead that allowed Vegas to get no closer than three over the rest of the way. Jones and Ionescu were responsible for all but four points in that span and the former had an assist on a Leonie Fiebich outlier.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

"We weren't frantic when they went on their run," Ionescu said. "I think it's just about understanding that teams are going to go on runs. They're the defending champs. They understand that basketball's a game of runs. Obviously, we came out really well in that first and they were able to kind of chip away and get back into it. Then there's our understanding with all of us: we've got to put an end to it."

"That was their run but we've got to buckle down and get stops Winning three of the four quarters is huge because no matter what run they go on we continue to stay locked in on the now and not look too far ahead."

Wilson ended the afternoon with 21 points and came a rebound short of a double-double while Plum paced the Aces in scoring by one. The next Finals rematch is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Vegas.

In the meantime, the Liberty finish off a brief Western tour on Tuesday night when they face the Phoenix Mercury in the desert (10 p.m. ET, CBSSN).

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