The Las Vegas Aces are 2-0 down in the semi-finals and up against an undesirable WNBA statistic. No team in the league’s history has overcome a 2-match deficit to win a playoff series. The New York Liberty emphatically crushed the defending champs in an 88-84 Game 2 semi-final win to set up the final stage to avenge their 2023 finals loss. Aces coach Becky Hammon couldn’t believe her eyes as she witnessed her players succumb to the top-seeded Liberty.

Though A’ja Wilson shined like the diamond she is with a game-high 24 points, matched with Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, her usual scoring partner Kelsey Plum couldn’t show up when the team was in desperate need. The Point Guard ended the game with only 6 points and 1 assist, compared to her Game 1 brilliance of 24 points & 4 assists. In a clip going viral on X, Coach Hammon was seen shouting at Plum for good. This frustration carried on into the post-game interviews, where she explained where the Aces lost the game.

“The layups we’re giving up… it was a thing in the first game, and a thing in the second game, and if it’s gonna be a win in the third, we’re not gonna win,” she told reporters. “I think we understand it’s mostly us,” she added, as quoted by ESPN journalist Alexa Philippou. “The layups are backbreaking, and that’s us.” The Aces’ defense let the Liberty score 16 layups, and a total of 44 points in the paint compared to their 24.

The Aces also stumbled with 13 turnovers and 22 fouls, conceding 22 points alone with the former. Thus came Hammon’s harsh admission: “It was Aces vs. Aces tonight.” ​She also addressed the now-dying 3-peat hype, saying, “Quite frankly we haven’t had the edge. We found it the last month. But the feel was different from the jump. This is why 3-peating is hard.” 

The Aces went from losing 5 of their first 10 matches to just one of their last 10 in the regular season. It had Hammon admitting, “I really feel like we have our edge back,” before game one. But days in, it is proving her wrong on all levels. Moreover, she has also conceded to the Liberty’s might and explained what makes them special this year.

Becky Hammon bows down to the “best team” in New York Liberty

The New York Liberty has undoubtedly been the team to beat this year. Ahead of the semi-finals, head coach Sandy Brondello got emotional, describing how a maiden WNBA championship for the original franchise “would mean everything” to the city. “It could be the best year ever,” was her undying wish. Unfortunately for Becky Hammon, no sport is kind enough to award two winners.

Unsurprisingly, she knows that the Liberty is the better team and might run away with the trophy this year. In the post-Game 2 press conference, the 47-year-old honestly admitted, “We were the best team last year. They’ve been the best team this year because they’ve had the habit, the edge that they’ve had the entire year, and their incredible attention to detail.”

Though the Aces made more 3s than in Game 1 with 44% accuracy, their lack of defense cost them big. In addition to the easy layups that the Liberty got, they also shot 49% from the field, compared to the Aces’ 44%. After Game 1’s 87-77 loss and a close 88-84 loss in Game 2 in this best-of-5 semi-finals, the defending champs are 2-0 down and on the brink of an early exit.