House Wins; New York Liberty Fall Behind 2-0 in WNBA Finals

Despite the best efforts of Jonquel Jones, the New York Liberty failed to muster a comeback against the Las Vegas Aces in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.

Sometimes, it is indeed about how you start. 

The New York Liberty failed to recover from a brutal opening to Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, as a dreary first 10 against the Las Vegas Aces led to a 104-76 defeat on Wednesday night. Combining the blowout win with last Sunday's Game 1 triumph, the Aces are on the cusp of back-to-back WNBA titles, leading 2-0 in the best-of-five series. 

"We're disappointed, very disappointed, because we're a way better team than what we showed," head coach Sandy Brondello said. "We didn't really execute anything we wanted to. Everything was too easy. We wanted physicality. We wanted to be disruptive ... we didn't have any toughness."

Two-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson led the way with 26 points and 15 rebounds while Chelsea Gray (14 points, 11 assists) joined her in the double-double sisterhood. Las Vegas once again had three women with a double decalogue, as Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum had 24 and 23 respectively. 

The series now moves to Barclays Center for Game 3 on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, ABC). No team has earned a repeat victory since 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks. Alas for New York, history still isn't on their side: no team has ever fully come back from a 2-0 series deficit since the WNBA Finals switched to a best-of-five set in 2005. 

Jonquel Jones' (35) eighth consecutive double-double wasn't enough to bring the Liberty back from an early deficit  / Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

With the loss, two New York streaks ended at the worst possible hour: with the 2-0 series deficit, the Liberty have lost consecutive games for the first time this season and they had never let an opponent reach triple digits before Wednesday night. Jonquel Jones was far and away the most consistent silver lining, earning her customary double-double (her eighth this postseason in as many games) before the first half let out with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Las Vegas jumped out to a 19-2 lead over the first four minutes and almost never looked back. The lead ballooned to as high as 22 as Wilson put in an early dozen and former New Yorker Kiah Stokes, sinker of a mere five triples during the regular season, put in two from deep. 

"We talked about transition defense, no one was matched up on anyone," Brondello said of the brutal opening frame. "That's a mental thing ...  our guards struggled out there tonight. Their guard could do whatever they want, and when that's happening, I mean, they just got confidence."

New York actually put in a potentially game-changing second period: Jones scored 14 points over the second 10 alone, paving the way for a Liberty charge that whittled the lead down to eight by the intermission.

That, however, was as close as New York would get the rest of the way: Las Vegas picked up the pace to open the third with an instant 8-0 run capped off by a successful and-one for Young. The lead even became much worse, as the Aces went up by as many as 32 before all was said and done. Over the latter two periods combined in each of the first two games, New York has been outscored by 40.

"I think it's disappointing, obviously," Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said. "We still have a lot of basketball left to be played, but this is the Finals and there's no reason why we shouldn't be ready to go from the start of the game."

"We keep putting ourselves in these positions where we have to fight back and we need to be better and we need to take a look from within and figure it out and we'll figure it out together, but, as frustrating as it is, we still have an opportunity."

The Liberty's star regulars struggled to make headway beyond the field: beyond Jones' 8-of-12 output, New York hit only 18 total and they shot 7-of-32 from three-point range (sans Jones). The reigning WNBA MVP Stewart was able to muster a double-double of her own in defeat, putting in 14 points and 13 boards.

"I was proud of the effort in that second quarter. We found a way, threw a little bit of grit," Brondello said. "Third quarter, things were too easy, and we talked about that. We got to do this, this is the third quarter, let's execute. It's about possession games, getting stops, but we didn't have quality of anything. We missed some shots, and we missed some open ones, but every open one they had, they made. They're backbreakers, but we have to have more resiliency."

"We're going home, it's going to be a great crowd. We have to prove to ourselves that we're a better team than what we showed these last two."