Liberty can't clinch spot in WNBA Finals, lose big to Aces in Game 3

LAS VEGAS — On the verge of elimination, the two-time defending WNBA champion Aces showed they weren’t ready to go quietly Friday night.

Las Vegas scored 16 straight points in the third quarter, holding the Liberty without a point for 7:36, and earned a 95-81 win to move within 2-1 in the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series.

Game 4 is set for Sunday. If Las Vegas wins that, a winner-take-all Game 5 will be played Tuesday at Barclays Center.

“This is when teams are most dangerous, when their backs are against the wall,” said Breanna Stewart, who led the Liberty with 19 points. “They’re going to throw everything at you. They came out and did what they’re supposed to do tonight.”

Jackie Young scored 24 points, Kelsey Plum had 20 and A’ja Wilson added 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Aces. Tiffany Hayes scored 11 points and Chelsea Gray had 10 points and seven assists.  The Aces shot 52.1%, including 40.6% from three-point range.

Las Vegas beat the Liberty for the first time this year after five straight losses, including three in the regular season.

Aces coach Becky Hammon took exception with the officiating when it came to Wilson, who has taken 10 free throws in three games, including two in this one.

“It’s ridiculous and I’m freakin’ tired of it,” Hammon said. “ . . . If you do the minutes she‘s played to the free-throw attempts, it‘s one free throw probably every 25 minutes. With as much as she’s touching the ball and as much as she’s in the paint — it’s not like she’s out there chucking threes — and how she puts it on the floor. She attacks closeouts and she gets bumped constantly and I‘m tired of it.”

The Liberty trailed 52-49 at halftime, but the third quarter came up Aces. “We‘re a way better team than what we showed,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “Even that first half, we were only down by three, it just didn‘t feel good.”

The Liberty moved within 57-53 on Leonie Fiebich’s three-pointer, but Plum scored nine points to lead the 16-0 run.  Las Vegas extended its lead to 78-55 early in the fourth quarter to cap a 21-2 run and took its biggest lead at 86-61.

The Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu was held to four points and 1-for-7 shooting. She was shut out until a minute into the fourth quarter, when she made a technical free throw. “We were trying to not let her get downhill at us,” Hammon said.

Jonquel Jones and Nyara Sabally each scored 11 points for the Liberty and Fiebich had 10.

Las Vegas also turned up the defensive heat on the interior. After getting outscored by 20 points in the lane in Game 2, the Aces turned it around in this game with a 42-28 advantage.

“We knew they wanted to get into the paint,” Gray said. “They were killing us inside. Whether it was layups, post-ups, [offensive] boards, we knew coming into this game that was going to be our starting point, not on the offensive end.”

The Aces played without Kiah Stokes, who suffered a concussion toward the end of Game 3.

This was the Aces‘ 12th consecutive home playoff victory, breaking the WNBA record shared by the Los Angeles Sparks (2001-04) and Sacramento Monarchs (2003-06).