It is difficult enough to defeat the New York Liberty at Barclays Center, let alone without three of your team’s top scorers.
Hours before the Las Vegas Aces suffered a 111-71 blowout loss to the Liberty the team announced that four-time MVP A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray would be rested for the finale of their season-long five-game road trip. Aces coach Becky Hammon said the decision was made due to the team’s schedule after playing less than 24 hours earlier in Minnesota.
“Everyone has a brutal schedule at some point,” Hammon said. “I don’t think they even do this in the NBA, though, where it’s less than 24 hours. You can check, but I am pretty sure that is not even legal on the NBA side.
“We’re always going to err on the side of health and safety for our players. Not going to put them in any kind of jeopardy to get hurt when we’ve been traveling a lot of miles, crisscrossing the country.”
Without Wilson, Young and Gray, the Liberty found plenty of offensive success, led by Marine Johannes’ game-high 27 points. Johannes tied her career high with seven made 3-pointers as New York had five players score in double figures.
The Aces entered the matchup having split their first two regular-season meetings with New York before winning 104-99 on July 30 in Las Vegas. The Liberty also defeated Las Vegas 93-85 in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game on June 30, though that result did not count toward the regular-season standings.
The loss dropped Las Vegas to 9-10 against New York under Hammon and left the Aces with a 2-3 record on their five-game road trip.
“I don’t care what seed you are, you gotta be healthy and fresh as much as possible after going through a season,” Hammon said. “This was a bigger-picture type of scenario, so you take the loss understanding that it pays dividends on the back end. My players’ health is the most important.”
With a starting lineup that had never shared the court together, there was little the Aces could do to slow down the fourth-best offense in the WNBA.
The biggest difference came on the glass, where the Liberty controlled the flow of the game through their second-chance opportunities.
New York outrebounded Las Vegas 45-24, including a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Liberty turned that advantage into 52 points in the paint while eventually building a 40-point lead.
With the Aces’ top scorers sidelined, the Las Vegas bench took on a larger offensive workload. Ta’Niya Latson led the team with 20 points while adding four rebounds and two assists.
Mai Yamamoto and Justine Pissott also scored in double figures, combining for seven 3-pointers.
“I think this was a great opportunity for the bench to get some minutes and get some burn,” Latson said. “I feel like this is going to give us a lot of experience, and hopefully when our name is called we will be ready.”
The Aces will return to Las Vegas to begin a two-game home series against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday as part of a season-long five-game homestand at Michelob Ultra Arena.
Las Vegas will look to avenge its 100-99 loss to Washington on July 22, when the Aces gave up a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter and Gray’s potential game-winning shot came up just short in the final seconds.
