The New York Liberty broke the Las Vegas Aces’ home stand in the playoffs. While the Aces lost game 4 on Sunday, one player who stood out during the game was the center, A’ja Wilson. The 3x WNBA MVP gave her best, scoring a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The 2x WNBA Champion also had a personal best record of hitting 5 or more blocks during the WNBA playoffs.

Comparing her defensive performance, the DPOY contender fell just short of Lisa Leslie and Brittney Griner who have 7 and 4 WNBA playoff games, respectively, with 5 or more blocks. And the same was tweeted by the WBB Timeline, reminding all of Wilson’s resilience in the face of defeat. Meanwhile, Wilson now has only 3 playoff games with 5+ blocks.

Wilson’s first game with 5+ blocks came during the semi-final Game 2 against the Connecticut Sun in 2020 when she hit 7 blocks, helping the team by an 83-75 tally. Next, she demonstrated her skills during Game 1 of Round 1 against the Seattle Storm when she saved her team offensive trouble from the opponents with 5 blocks this year. And ultimately, her third game of 5+ blocks was this when the Aces lost the semi-final series in Game 4 against the Liberty.

A’ja Wilson’s Las Vegas Aces have a tough time

Coming into this matchup, it was a must-win game for the Aces who trailed by 1-2 tally in the best-of-5 series. However, an exceptional performance from the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu cut short their campaign and with it drowned their hopes of bagging the Championship title for the third time. They had become the first team after the Los Angeles Sparks to win back-to-back titles and were on their way to etching their names with the Houston Comets for clinching 3 or more consecutive titles. However, the 2x WNBA Champions fell prey to the Liberty’s dominance and were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday as they lost by a 76-62 margin.

The game started with the Liberty outsmarting the Aces in the first quarter by scoring 23 points in comparison to their 19. However, Wilson & Co. edged past their arch-rivals narrowly in the next two quarters. Nonetheless, the Liberty knew that the game was within their reach and showed a masterclass in defense, restricting the Aces to 11 points while scoring 23 in the fourth quarter.

While Ionescu scored a game-high 22 points with 7 rebounds, Breanna Stewart hit 19 points with 14 rebounds. Both these performances overshadowed Wilsn’s double-double and the Liberty went ahead to play spoilsport to their three-peat dreams. Hopefully, the Aces will go back converting their pain into something insightful, and perhaps will not spare the Liberty when they next battle against each other in the next season.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.