The Liberty answered.
They got “back to our identity,” as head coach Sandy Brondello put it, which helped them earn an 87-73 Game 3 victory over the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday afternoon at Barclays Center to keep their hopes alive in their first WNBA Finals since 2002.
Jonquel Jones delivered with 27 points and Breanna Stewart added a double-double (20 points, 12 rebounds) in front of a loud Liberty crowd featuring Sue Bird, Jason Sudeikis, Tony Parker, Aubrey Plaza and Robin Roberts.
“It helps that we’re at home. What an amazing crowd,” Brondello said. “It was great, all the support we got. Hopefully we’ll take that home-court advantage on Wednesday as well.”
The Aces, who still lead the best-of-five series 2-1, lost starting point guard Chelsea Gray in the fourth quarter who was reportedly on crutches after the game.
Aces coach Becky Hammon didn’t give an update on Gray, saying she had “not talked to our trainer directly yet,” but she believes it’s a foot injury.
Things were clicking for the Liberty, giving a new energy to the superteam finals matchup that had been missing in the two blowout losses in Vegas.
The Liberty never trailed after an 11-2 run late in the first quarter following an early 10-10 tie.
Leading 43-40 at halftime, they opened the second half on a 8-0 run, highlighted by Stewart finding Courtney Vandersloot on a backdoor pass for two and Jones finding Betnijah Laney over the top of the defense for another bucket.
The defense double-teamed the Aces’ guards before they hit the paint, limiting them greatly and forcing passes to go awry.
The Liberty’s size was there to back them up as Stewart and Jones controlled the rim, blocking A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum in key moments to help limit the Aces to only 10 points in the third quarter.
“We can be a great defensive team, but you have to be locked in to do it. And we weren’t for two games.” Brondello said. “In our practice, we just had to remind them what that looks like. But in the end, they know what it looks like. They know how it feels. Offense does help when the ball is going through the hole, that gives you more confidence.”
The Liberty held the Aces to 33.3 percent from the field and 31.8 from deep. Meanwhile, the Liberty shot 52.4 percent overall and 43.3 percent from distance.
Wilson had 16 points and 11 rebounds while Plum led the Aces with 29 points.
“They played hard for one,” Hammon said. “They switched a couple of their matchups, I don’t think that should shave 40 points off of our score. Give them credit. It’s a feat to beat any team three times in a row. We knew they weren’t going to go away and we know they’re good in this building. And they played better than us. Flat out. Played more aggressive, more physical, and shot better.”
“We showed what we can do,” Stewart said. “Obviously we were battle-tested in Vegas, down 0-2 but we still had an opportunity and a chance. Now this series is 1-2 and we still have an opportunity and a chance. Today, I wasn’t looking past Sunday. So now, I’m not looking past Wednesday.”
Game 4 is 8 p.m. Wednesday night at Barclays Center.
