The Las Vegas Aces A’Ja Wilson (22) tries to drive on the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart (30) in first half action in game 3 of the WNBA Finals at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Liberty had a beautiful game plan and executed it to perfection winning game three 87-73. Kelsey Plum had the high in this game with 29 points but it was just not enough to get past New York. Chelsea Gray left the court with an apparent right left injury in the fourth quarter. Losing Gray would be a devastating blow to Las Vegas.

Sunday afternoon the Las Vegas Aces (34-6) came into Barclays Center looking to finish off the New York Liberty (32-9) and take a back-to-back championship. The Liberty put the brakes on that sentiment. They were playing at home in this game and this team is nothing to mess with especially after the embarrassment they suffered last Wednesday night at the hands of Las Vegas 104-76.

The Liberty are a desperate team coming into this game and a desperate team is a dangerous team. While they had some great success during the season against the Aces, this is the finals and all bets are off. Having a 2-0 series lead is huge for Las Vegas and the odds are clearly on their side.

The opening quarter was a puzzling one. Both teams looked stale and it took a few minutes to get this game going. Las Vegas had some ugly turnovers in the first quarter. Both the Aces and the Liberty had trouble making shots but they got it going as the quarter wore on. The Liberty took a nine point lead with under two minutes left in the opening quarter but the Aces continued to push back trailing by three points at the quarters end 21-18.

New York continued to press the Aces in the second quarter. The most the Liberty led by in the second quarter was eight points and at the half it continued to be a three point game 43-40. The two teams had shot for 22 points apiece in the second quarter. New York who is the best three point scoring team in the league was giving the Aces a run for their money. Every time the Aces threatened, the Liberty poured it on but they were unable to take a sizable lead.

The Liberty got a nice lead going in the third quarter 51-40 at 6:47. The Aces had some disturbing turnovers in the quarter and the Liberty’s Jonquel Jones was having an amazing and dominating game from the start, and there was no shutting her down.

Mid-way through the quarter the Aces already had ten turnovers, some of them very careless. Kelsey Plum was the only Las Vegas player with double digits. The Liberty had shut down the rest of the starters including A’Ja Wilson who had only 11 points by the quarters end.

As the quarter began to wear down the Liberty had taken a 14-point lead, the largest lead in the game so far. The Aces would have to pull out all the stops in the fourth quarter to get past a determined Liberty squad trailing after three quarters 61-50.

The fourth quarter would decide if the Liberty could push this series into a game four. The Aces while known for being a second half team did not live up to their reputation in the third quarter and would have one more quarter to make a move.

It was slow going for Las Vegas but after trailing by 11 points had cut it to six points as they continued to chip away at the Liberty’s lead. It got even tougher in the final minutes of the quarter for the Aces when Chelsea Gray limped off to the locker room with an apparent right leg injury seemingly in terrible pain.

When the Aces were looking to make their move, they lost Gray and at that point the Liberty just took over the game. New York had their largest lead of the game with under two minutes left 84-67. There was no stopping the Liberty as they kept this series alive.

The Las Vegas Aces remain one game away from the promised land but should the team lose Chelsea Gray it would be a horrible blow. She is a vital part of this team and playing without her would be a tough call .

Kelsey Plum finished with the team high of 29 points. A’Ja Wilson had a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The Aces will no doubt take what happened on the floor today personally and will come out with a new resolve as they try to finish off this series in game four. They do not want to have to go back to Las Vegas tied in the series 2-2. Tipoff for game four is scheduled for Wednesday night October 18 at 5:00 PM.