LAS VEGAS — Just over three months ago, the Las Vegas Aces had their first of three losses this WNBA season to the New York Liberty. Las Vegas fell to 6-6 then, and Aces star A'ja Wilson vowed that her team would figure things out and improve.
Now, the Aces are making their sixth consecutive WNBA semifinal appearance after a 2-0 first-round sweep of Seattle. Their opponent is the team they beat for the league title last year: the Liberty.
Las Vegas won Game 2 Tuesday of its opening series 83-76 here at Michelob Ultra Arena behind 24 points and 13 rebounds from league MVP Wilson and 29 points and 6 rebounds from fellow Olympian Kelsey Plum.
Next, the No. 4 seed Aces travel to Brooklyn to face the No. 1 seed Liberty in a best-of-five series that begins Sunday. The Aces prevailed 3-1 in the WNBA Finals last October, but New York dominated this year's regular-season series. The Liberty beat the Aces 90-82 on June 15, 79-67 on Aug. 17 and 75-71 on Sept. 8.
«New York is a lot better team than they were last year,» Plum said. «They're bigger, they shoot the ball at a better clip. So credit to them.
»We have to focus on what we can do. Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy. But they kicked our butt all three times [this year.] This is a fresh start. But there's no secret they've taken care business and they've done what they needed to do, and that's why they have the 1 seed. So it's an uphill battle."
Coach Becky Hammon said of the Liberty being motivated by last year's Finals loss to Vegas, «They've been the best team all year. They played like a team pissed off, with an edge. And we've worked our way there. I feel like we got our edge back probably in the last 3-4 weeks. I don't think we're the same team that New York has
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