New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart drives on the Las Vegas Aces Chelsea Gray (12) in the first half of game 2 in the WNBA Playoffs at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Tue Oct 1, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Las Vegas Aces (0-2) fought hard in game two of their best of five series against the New York Liberty (2-0) and came so very close losing 88-84. The Liberty have an amazing defense that gave the Aces trouble all night long.

A’ja Wilson finished with 24 points but Kelsey Plum never really got on track hitting a couple of three’s for 6 points in this game. In game three the Aces will need all hands on deck if they are to make a comeback in the series. It’s a lot of pressure on the entire team but it is the only way they will have any chance at all.

The Aces took on the New York Liberty in an all-important game two. The Aces went down 0-2 and lost on New York’s home court which was not ideal heading home to Las Vegas for game three.

Game recap: The Aces got a good start leading for most of the opening ten minutes. The largest lead for Las Vegas was an eight point lead 27-19 in the final minute of the quarter. The Aces held a 27-22 lead going into the second quarter.

Two minutes into the second quarter Las Vegas was forced to take a time-out after their lead shrunk to a single point 27-26. The Liberty began to match the Aces shot for shot and three minutes into the quarter coach Becky Hammon took a second time-out very unhappy with her team’s offense.

The Aces continued missing layups and the Liberty’s defense was making things awfully difficult for Las Vegas clogging up the paint and forcing shots from outside. With under three minutes left in the half, the game was tied at 37.

The Aces were getting stops but not taking advantage of those stops. After leading briefly in the final two minutes of the half, the Aces let the Liberty take over the game. New York led after two quarters 46-40. They had outscored the Aces 24-13 in the second quarter.

Sabrina Ionescu really got into her stride in the second half of the second quarter. New York really kept the wraps on A’ja WIlson holding her to six points in the half and Kelsey Plum was also struggling with a single three point shot in the half.

The Liberty had scored 20 points on 11 Aces turnovers. In game one, the Aces missed 16 layups and you just cannot continue to do this against the best team in the league. The biggest challenge the Aces would have in the second half would be getting the ball to A’ja Wilson.

The third quarter was a close one with the Liberty outscoring the Aces by a single point 23-22. Las Vegas had one quarter left in this game to even up the series trailing 69-62. At 8:54 in the fourth quarter Las Vegas was trailing 66-69 but let it slip away a minute later as the Liberty extended their lead 74-66. With more than five minutes left in the game Las Vegas was within reach trailing by two points 72-74 forcing the Liberty to take a time-out.

With two minutes left in the game, Las Vegas continued to trail but remained within a point 78-79. With 90 seconds left on the clock this game was tied at 81. This game was going down to the wire and the Aces just couldn’t get over the top.

It came down to an Ace possession with ten seconds left on the clock trailing by two points 82-84. Chelsea Gray fouled Sabrina Ionescu, she made both free throws and that was the game 88-84. Breanna Stewart also made two free throws when fouled by Tiffany Hayes making both free throws to end the game.

The Las Vegas Aces are in deep trouble as they head back to Las Vegas trailing 0-2. While there is still that outside possibility that they can tie up the series it will be a huge mountain to climb. It will all start with game three Friday night which gets underway at 6:30 PM PT at Michelob ULTRA Arena.