WNBA playoffs: The real Aces finally show up to make a statement — and make it a series

LAS VEGAS — Becky Hammon waited and believed in this version of the Las Vegas Aces. The two-time champs are at their best when their guard trio clicks on all cylinders around three-time MVP A’ja Wilson. It was a version missing for much of the season, and it certainly didn’t show up in Brooklyn for the first two semifinal games.

“Man, we was waiting on that, too,” Chelsea Gray said after masterfully leading the Aces’ offense back to that version of itself.

The Aces didn’t merely survive on the brink of elimination, they hit full throttle in a dominant 95-81 victory at home Friday to keep their season and three-peat hopes alive. The close contest blew open in the third quarter, which the Aces won 21-6. The Liberty lead the series 2-1 and will look to clinch a Finals berth on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC).

Jackie Young led all scorers with 24 points and 4 3-pointers. Kelsey Plum poured in 20, shooting 63.6% overall. Wilson powered to a 19-point, 14-rebound effort. Gray neared her own double-double with 10 points and seven assists, threading needles invisible to everyone else. And newly crowned Sixth Player of the Year Tiffany Hayes chipped in 11 crucial points off the bench.

These are the Aces who won two championships, and two hours ahead of tipoff, Hammon said she expected them to show up “any time now.” On cue, they came out in full force from the jump at Michelob Ultra Arena’s 25th consecutive sold-out crowd.

“Everything was just on point really with everybody,” Hammon said afterward. “I thought that was probably our most complete game of the season.”

For the first time this series, Wilson established her presence early with a turnaround jumper after a game-opening block from Gray. She added a pull-up bucket and a 3-pointer within the game’s first three minutes. Young took over, answering a Liberty 3 and handing the keys to Gray, who scored seven of her 10 in the first half.

Hammon sent a message to Gray privately and publicly after Game 1, telling reporters the point guard has to “take her matchup personally” and not let Betnijah Laney-Hamilton “get up and punk you.” Gray was limited to four points and one assist in Game 1 and built on her 14 points and seven assists in Game 2. She sped past the Liberty’s All-Defensive star halfway into the second of Game 3 and passed around her to a rolling Wilson to rack up paint points they had struggled to find previously.

Even so, the Aces and Liberty remained in a back-and-forth pull throughout the first half with 18 lead changes and eight ties by the 2:55 mark. The Aces kept space and led 52-49 at halftime. No team led by more than four and nearly every category was nearly deadlocked.

Yet, it was all Aces.

“Even though that first half, we’re only down by three, it just didn’t feel good,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. “It was like, this is not how we play.”

It didn’t feel any better for the sea-foam faithful in the third quarter. Wilson hit a jumper on a feed from Young, Young drained a 3, Plum finger-rolled in a layup, and Gray fired in her own 3 to speed into the 21-6 frame that shut the door on a potential sweep. The Liberty didn’t score from the 8:02 mark (Aces led 57-54) until there were 26.2 seconds left (73-55).

“We were just so locked in defensively [and] rebounding,” Gray said. “We were intentional on that end of the floor. When we’re able to do that and we hold a team like that to six points in a third quarter. They have scorers over there, so to be able to do that was key.”

The Liberty’s biggest scorer nearly ended the night without a bucket. Sabrina Ionescu didn’t score until a technical free throw at the 9-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Her only basket in seven attempts was a 3-pointer at 8:08. Hammon wanted her team to get at least a C-plus guarding the Liberty’s most improved superstar.

When they needed it most, the team delivered an A-plus. Brondello credited their urgency and giving Ionescu little space to operate. Gray said they were successful in their attention to detail after giving up too many layups in each of the first two games. The Aces won the paint, 42-28, including 20-10 in the second half.

Ionescu scored fewer than 10 points twice this season, both in limited minutes. Breanna Stewart couldn’t get much going herself with 19 points. She and Brondello each said ahead of the game it would be the hardest one to finish against a team ready to throw everything at the Liberty to stay alive.

“They’re going to be aggressive, they’re going to use their fans, they’re going to use the momentum behind it,” Stewart said after the game. “And I think we didn’t come ready for all that. We didn’t come and embrace the hard things. Because this s*** isn’t easy. And we saw that tonight.”

Jonquel Jones was forced to the bench in the final four minutes of the first half with three fouls and didn’t finish with the double-double goal the team always has for her. She had 11 points and six rebounds. Leonie Fiebich had 10 points, and Courtney Vandersloot, who drew an uncharacteristic technical yelling at a referee following a travel call during the third quarter Liberty drought, chipped in nine off the bench.

“They came out and did what they’re supposed to do,” Brondello said. “Now it’s how we come back on Sunday.”