The Las Vegas Aces defeated the New York Liberty 98-81 on Thursday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas in the two teams’ first showdown of the 2023 WNBA season. Here’s what you need to know:
- Aces guard Kelsey Plum scored a game-high 18 points to go along with eight assists and three rebounds.
- Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson notched 16 points, while Candace Parker and Jackie Young chipped in 15 points apiece.
- Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 16 points to go with five rebounds and three assists.
- Las Vegas, which leads the Western Conference, improved to 14-1. New York, which sits first in the Eastern Conference, dropped to 10-4.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
There is only one super team in the WNBA
New York entered this contest with the second-best offense and second-best record in the league, but the gap between the Liberty and the Aces is more like a chasm. The impressive collection of talent on New York has yet to coalesce the way Las Vegas’ group has, and it seems unlikely that there will be enough time this season for the Liberty to make up that difference in continuity.
The turnover totals were the clearest indicator of how well the Aces play together and the work that New York still has to do on that end. Through three quarters (the competitive portion of the…
