Win City: Liberty Victory in Vegas Earns WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship
The New York Liberty hit the WNBA's in-season jackpot in the most appropriate location.
New York's trophy case will finally be re-opened, as the Liberty prevailed over the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA's third annual Commissioner's Cup in-season competition. The trophy was earned was an 82-63 victory at Michelob Ultra Arena, denying Vegas a second consecutive title.
With the win, New York dealt Las Vegas its first loss at Michelob Ultra Arena this season. Jonquel Jones (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Courtney Vandersloot (11 points, 10 assists) each posted double-doubles while Marine Johannes led all New York scorers with 17 points off the bench.
Thus continues the Liberty's magical run since grouping the historic talents of Jonquel Jones, Vandersloot, and Breanna Stewart with returning All-Stars Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney. Those moves were made in the name of finally raising a championship banner: New York has accomplished plenty as one of the four franchises left over from the WNBA's debut in 1997 but has only three conference titles/unsuccessful runs to the Finals to its name in that span
Facing off against an equally packed Vegas team for the third time this season, the Liberty were lifted not by their marquee talent, at least in the early going. Both sides started cold, as the scoreboard remained blank for the first 3:31 before A'ja Wilson scored from the foul line.
New York's depth stars took over in the early going, with Johannes guiding the Liberty to an early double-figure lead with four triples in the first dozen-plus minutes alone. Forced turnovers allowed Vegas to post a 16-0 run that spanned into the third quarter and boosted their lead to as high as seven.
But the Liberty's starters, namely Jones and Vandersloot, helped them keep pace while Johannes and Thornton provided assistance off the bench. Ionescu, returning to the site of her dominant 3-Point Contest victory, sank three triples in the opening minutes of the fourth to rebuild a double-figure lead, this one proving permanent.
The WNBA world won't have to wait long for the next installment of the New York vs. Vegas franchise: the teams face off in a game that counts in the standings on Thursday night (10 p.m. ET, YES/Amazon Prime Video). As it stands, Vegas (27-3) is three games up on the Liberty (24-6) for the regular season title and the postseason-spanning homecourt advantage that comes with it.
New York leads the series 2-1 thus, previously earning a 38-point at Barclays Center earlier this month. The two sides have one more scheduled showdown in Brooklyn on Aug. 28.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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