WNBA Semi-Final Preview and Prediction: Las Vegas Aces vs New York Liberty
The 2023 WNBA finalists meet in the semi-finals. Will the two-time defending champion Aces move on or will the Liberty continue the quest for their first-ever championship?
Las Vegas Aces
In 2023 the Aces were almost unbeatable winning thirty-four games against six losses. This year it was not as easy as they dropped 13 games and finished fourth in the standings.
The good thing for the Aces is they finished red hot. Going 8-1 over their last nine games. And that hot play continued in round one of the WNBA Playoffs.
The Aces made quick work of the Seattle Storm sweeping them in two games. In game one the Aces showed a lot of heart and what they can do on the defensive side of the ball.
The Aces were able to come back from a six-point deficit in the third quarter and held the Storm to two total points in the fourth quarter.
Las Vegas’ sudden defensive effort is a factor in my Las Vegas Aces vs New York Liberty prediction.
Mark Davis, owner of the Aces, should rename the Aces to the fighting A’ja Wilsons. Wilson is the Aces.
Wilson was named the league MVP for the third time in her career. She had a year for the history books becoming the first player to have 1,000 points in one season. As much as she can do she needs help from the rest of the roster.
Guards Kelsey Plum (17.8 PPG) and Jackie Young (15.8 PPG) need to knock down three-pointers to help the Aces keep their floor spacing.
New York Liberty
The Liberty picked up right where they left off last year and accomplished their number one regular season goal of being the one seed. Now they get a chance to revenge their WNBA Finals loss from last year.
The Liberty dominated game one of their series with the Dream leading the entire game but struggled in the first half in game two. At one point New York was down by 11 but made the necessary adjustments at the halftime break and pulled away winning by a score of 91-82.
Sabrina Ionescu had an excellent first-round series. She averaged 26.5 points a game for the series and exploded in game two.
36 points
Five made three-pointers
Nine assists
Only two turnovers
Ionescu needs to keep up her scoring for the Liberty to advance to the WNBA Finals. Ionescu’s three-point shooting is a key to my Aces vs Liberty prediction.
Two other key players are Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones. Both Jones and Stewart have MVPs on their resumes.
Jones will be the primary defender on A’ja Wilson which will undoubtedly take away from her offensive production. That is where Stewart will need to step up her game.
Stewart is a scoring threat from anywhere on the court and the Liberty will need her scoring ability in this series. Stewart performed well against the Aces this year, averaging 17 points a game in three matchups with Vegas.
Season Series
The Liberty swept the season series 3-0 with two of the victories coming in Las Vegas. This is a factor in my Las Vegas vs New York WNBA Prediction.
These wins were not blowouts but impressive. New York averaged 81 points, while Vegas averaged 73 points a game.
Vegas needs to play better to have a chance in this series.
For the gamblers in the room, the dog covered every game and all three games went under.
Prediction
My official Las Vegas vs New York Liberty WNBA semi-finals prediction is Liberty to win the series 3-2.
The season sweep by the Liberty is impressive but the Aces are the two-time defending champions for a reason. I see these teams splitting games one and two, going to Vegas, and doing the same with the Liberty taking game five back in New York.
The Liberty are better defensively and have been waiting for his moment. Las Vegas has had an impressive run but they are tired and running out of gas.
I favor New York in the coaching matchup department. Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello has been pulling the right strings all year. Versus Becky Hammon has been tinkering with the lineup all year and is in the middle of a lawsuit lodged against her by former Aces’ player and current LA Spark Dearica Hamby.
I honestly would not be surprised if Hammon walks away from the Aces after this year and moves on to Chicago or Golden State.
