BROOKLYN, NY (October 14, 2023)—The Las Vegas Aces can close out their second WNBA Championship in as many years Sunday as they travel to New York for Game 3 of their best-of-5 Finals series against the Liberty. Should they do so, the Aces would become the first back-to-back title winners since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks. Tip at Barclays Center is at 12 pm PT, and the game is being broadcast on ABC.
Las Vegas brings an 8-game postseason winning streak into Sunday’s game. A victory would extend that streak to a WNBA-record tying 9 straight playoff wins, matching the 2001-02 Sparks and the 2013-14 Minnesota Lynx. Further, the team’s overall winning streak of 11-straight games is the 2nd-longest in franchise history and a win would draw this team even with the 12-game winning run by the 2012 San Antonio Stars.
The Aces won Games 1 (99-82) and 2 (104-76) in fairly convincing fashion, outscoring New York by an average of 21 points in the second half. Those two defeats are the first back-to-back losses for the Liberty this season, and New York’s scoring average of 79.0 points in the Finals is more than 10 points lower than its regular season average of 89.2 per game. In 2023, the Liberty connected on 46.0 percent of their field goal attempts and 37.4 percent of their 3-pointers. During the Finals, those numbers have decreased to 41.1 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively.
New York boasted 5 double-digit scorers during the regular season, but only Jonquel Jones is matching or exceeding her production in the Finals.
| Regular Season | Finals | ||||||
| PPG | FG% | 3G% | PPG | FG% | 3G% | ||
| Breanna Stewart | 23.0 | .465 | .355 | 17.5 | .389 | .200 | |
| Sabrina Ionescu | 17.0 | .423 | .448 | 8.5 | .235 | .250 | |
| Betnijah Laney | 12.8 | .499 | .392 | 11.5 | .391 | .167 | |
| Jonquel Jones | 11.3 | .527 | .352 | 19.0 | .625 | .167 | |
| Courtney Vandersloot | 10.5 | .442 | .294 | 9.5 | .350 | .333 | |
Las Vegas’ offense, meanwhile, has continued at the near record-breaking pace it set during the regular season. After averaging 92.8 points on 48.6 percent shooting from the field, and 37.2 percent from distance during their 34-win campaign, the Aces are posting 101.5 points per game while making 53.7 percent of their shots, including 43.1 percent from beyond the arc through their first 2 postseason games against the Liberty.
Jackie Young (25.0 ppg), Kelsey Plum (24.5 ppg) and Aja Wilson (22.5 ppg) are trying to become the first trio of teammates to each average 20 or more points in a single WNBA Finals series. They are also shooting a combined 52 for 91 (.571) from the field, and 15 for 32 (.469) from 3-point land. Last year’s Finals MVP, Chelsea Gray, has been nearly as impressive, averaging 17.0 points with close to a 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.