The Aces look to regain the lead against Liberty and go 0-2 in history

NEW YORK – To prevent their quest for a three-goal championship from ending, the Las Vegas Aces know they'll have to do something no WNBA team has ever done before: overcome a 2-0 deficit in one Catch up on the best-of-five series.

The two-time defending champions lost Game 2 of their semifinal series against New York 88-84 on Tuesday, meaning the remaining games are must-win. From Friday in Las Vegas.

“I love being in the history books, so I might as well try to start there,” Aces guard Chelsea Gray said. “That will be our mentality.”

The 14,321 crowd at Barclays Center, including the likes of Alicia Keys, Carmelo Anthony and Gayle King, celebrated the No. 1 seed Liberty's victory, which gave New York a commanding two-game lead in the series. But another spectator who received a round of applause from the crowd, former Liberty guard Teresa Weatherspoon, knows from experience that there is still a lot of work ahead.

Weatherspoon, who was recently fired after just one season as head coach of the Chicago Sky, is among the most revered players in Liberty history. From 1997 to 2002 she played in four title games for New York. The Liberty lost them all: the first in a championship game in the league's inaugural season and the other three in a row. Then New York failed again in the WNBA Finals last year.

“Being 2-0 up is great, but we haven’t won anything yet,” New York defender Sabrina Ionescu said. “We did what we were supposed to do, which was to protect the home court.”

Meanwhile, the No. 4 seeded Aces didn't do what they hoped. Coach Becky Hammon said she tried to avoid timeouts during the game because she didn't want to yell at her team in frustration. But a few times she did.

“I’m not mad at the officials, I’m not mad at the New York Liberty,” said Hammon, who led the Aces to two titles in her first two seasons as head coach. “I’m mad at us for giving up so many layups. It was one thing in the first game, one thing in the second game. And if it's going to be one thing in the third, it's us. They're not going to win.

“We were the best team last year. They were the best team this year. Because of their habits, the strength they had all year long, their incredible attention to detail. Honestly, we didn't have that.” Now we found it last month, but the feeling was different than the jump (of this series).

“That’s why it’s difficult to score three goals. The whole league has been pissed off for the last eight months – my players being in commercials and this and that. And being celebrities. And you get distracted. That's why it's difficult. “Human nature.” is distracting.

Conversely, Hammon knows how hungry New York is to win the franchise's first title. The Liberty have now won five straight games (including the regular season) against the Aces.

Ionescu, New York's No. 1 prospect in 2020, had 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists on Tuesday. This followed her performance of 21 points and 5 assists in the first game on Sunday.

“We had a plan in Game 1 that we didn’t execute,” Hammon said of trying to protect Ionescu. “And tonight I just felt like we didn’t keep them in front of us as well as we probably could have.”

Another big concern for Hammons was ball losses. The Aces had 12, which isn't too bad overall, but they all hurt. Especially the last one: With 10.1 seconds left and the Aces down by two, Gray's inbounds pass bounced off teammate Kelsey Plum. The ball was originally called Aces' Ball, but was overturned on review when New York challenged it.

Las Vegas was forced to foul afterward, with Ionescu making two free throws and Breanna Stewart making two more to seal the win.

“The turnovers in the first half really hurt,” Gray said of the 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. “If we change a few of these possessions, the game will be different before halftime and we won’t get out of trouble.”

The hole the Aces find themselves in now is scary. WNBA teams with 2-0 leads in best-of-five series are 18-0. No previous defending champion had to accept a 0-2 deficit before. Four defending champions have been defeated in the past, but these took place in best-of-three series.

“It starts with our mentality from the beginning,” Gray said of how the Aces can come back. “Being the aggressor on both ends of the floor. I thought there was a lot more glimpses of that tonight…we had none of that at all in the first game. But it's going to take a full 40 to be able to do that.” Get it done.

And the Aces have to do that three times in a row or New York will reach the WNBA finals.