A’ja Wilson scored 26 points as the Las Vegas Aces parlayed a record-setting first quarter and a third-quarter surge into a 104-76 rout of the visiting New York Liberty in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday.
The Aces grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, and they are within one win of becoming the first repeat champions since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and ’02. Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in New York.
Wilson shot 10 of 16 from the floor and grabbed 15 rebounds for the top-seeded Aces. Las Vegas’ Jackie Young added 24 points and eight rebounds, Kelsey Plum amassed 23 points and eight assists, and Chelsea Gray bundled 14 points with 11 assists.
Jonquel Jones posted 22 points and 10 boards for the second-seeded Liberty, who lost consecutive games for the first time this season. League MVP Breanna Stewart managed 14 points and 13 boards, but Sabrina Ionescu was limited to 10 points on 2-of-10 shooting.
The momentum Las Vegas seized as it outscored New York by 20 points in the second half of Game 1 immediately poured over into Wednesday night.
The Aces hit three 3-pointers in the game’s first two minutes and soon led 14-2 on Young’s driving layup, which prompted a Liberty timeout.
Las Vegas continued its sizzling start with a fusion of crisp ball movement and lights-out shooting that complemented its up-tempo attack. Every Aces starter canned a trey during a first quarter in which Las Vegas shot 70 percent and dished out 12 assists.
Gray’s last-second pull-up capped the highest-scoring first quarter by a team in WNBA Finals history as the Aces led 38-19 after one.
Gray’s jumper early in the second period pushed Las Vegas’ advantage to 22 before one of New York’s prized offseason acquisitions provided a much-needed spark. Jones poured in 16 points in the half’s final 6:47, including three free throws to cap an 11-0 surge that dwindled the Liberty’s deficit to 50-44 with 25 seconds to go before halftime.
Alysha Clark’s layup in the final seconds ended the Aces’ four-minute scoring drought and kept Las Vegas ahead 52-44 at the break.
After their slow finish to the second quarter, the defending champions went full throttle to begin the second half and put the game out of reach.
The Aces opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run. A gorgeous fastbreak feed from Gray that Young converted into an and-one made it 69-47 midway through the quarter.
Las Vegas led by as many as 32 in the fourth quarter to improve to 7-0 this postseason.
–Field Level Media
