Upsets and surprises in any sport’s playoffs are always fun. But a predictable matchup also has merit when it sets up a meeting of heavyweights. That’s what we’re getting in the 2023 WNBA Finals, where the No. 1 seed Las Vegas Aces will meet the No. 2 seed New York Liberty.
The best-of-five series opens Sunday at Las Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena (3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN App). The Aces will host Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, 5.
The talent for Las Vegas and New York resulted in both squads being referred to as superteams as early as February during free agency. Neither team likes the moniker, but it has proved accurate as the Aces finished the regular season first at 34-6, and the Liberty second at 32-8.
The Aces are the defending WNBA champions, led by 2022 MVP A’ja Wilson, and are appearing in their third Finals in the past four years. The Liberty, led by 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart, will play for the WNBA title for the fifth time — but the last was 21 years ago, when New York fell to the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2002 Finals.
Stewart…
