This year’s Las Vegas Aces team is not performing as well as last year’s championship team. That was evident in Saturday’s game against the New York Liberty.
Behind a career-high 34 points from Jonquel Jones, the Liberty beat the Aces 90-82 in a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals. The loss dropped the Aces’ record to 6-6. That means they have now lost as many games as the team that went 34-6 last season.
The game wasn’t uncompetitive, as Las Vegas trailed 45-43 at halftime and took a six-point lead at one point in the third quarter. Unfortunately, that was followed by a 14-0 New York run to dominate the rest of the game.
We witnessed a MONSTER performance by Jonquel Jones 😳
In today’s matchup with the Aces, everything went well, going 12-16 from the field and 4-5 from three. Led by JJ @nyliberty A rematch victory following last year’s finals 🔥
STATISTICS: 34 PTS, 8 REB#WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/OGhdcysVIZ
– WNBA (@WNBA) June 15, 2024
Behind Jones, who had 34 points on a very efficient 12-of-16 shooting, were Sabrina Ionescu with 15 points and a season-high 12 assists, and Brianna Stewart with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Kelsey Plum led the Aces with 22 points and A’ja Wilson had 21 points and nine rebounds, breaking a WNBA record for her eighth straight game with at least 25 points.
Needless to say, it’s been a rough start for the Aces, who entered this season as favorites to win the WNBA title. Most of these problems can be attributed to the absence of starting point guard Chelsea Gray, who has yet to make her season debut due to a foot injury. she is I think I’m probably close to returning And he will undoubtedly be happier when the Ace returns to the court.
But Ace’s problems may go beyond Gray. They have broadly the same staffing as last year. The biggest exception is the retired Candace Parker, who played only half the regular season. But they have a defense that last year ranked ninth in the WNBA on Saturday. Their offense remains elite, but they have now lost five of their last seven.
