With a Mammoth Mountain to Climb for Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, Has Any WNBA Team Made a LeBron James-Like Comeback?

The Las Vegas Aces are just one victory away from clinching the 2023 WNBA championship. The team took a commanding 2-0 series lead over the New York Liberty on Wednesday. With just one more victory required to win the best-of-five series, the Aces, often hailed as one of the league’s “superteams,” are now on the cusp of making history as the first repeat champions since 2001-02. However, a herculean task awaits Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu.

With the WNBA Finals at the most heated point, has any WNBA team made a LeBron James-like comeback?

Has Any WNBA Team made a LeBron James-like comeback?

LeBron James, while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, pulled off a rare feat in the history of the NBA. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the first team to pull off a 3?1 deficit in the NBA Finals while playing against the Golden State Warriors. Surprisingly, the Warriors also had the NBA’s best-ever regular season record of 73?9. Stephen Curry and his team were touted by many to win the title.

However, with a resounding final buzzer and a score of 93-89, it was the Cavaliers who secured a stunning victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 7.? Not only did the Cavaliers achieve the 3-1 turnaround, but they also joined an exclusive club of NBA teams. They are now only the fourth team in the history of the NBA to bounce back from a 2-0 deficit and emerge as champions. The previous members of this illustrious club are the 2005-06 Miami Heat, the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers, and the legendary 1968-69 Boston Celtics.

Meanwhile, have any WNBA teams pulled off the arduous task of overcoming a 3-1 victory?

No WNBA teams have succeeded in coming back from a 3-1 victory. Teams trailing 0-2 in the Finals have lost eight out of eight times, with seven of those series ending in sweeps.

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It seems like the New York Liberty is in for a challenging game on Sunday!

The Aces dominate the WNBA Finals

With a dominating 2-0 series lead against the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals, the Las Vegas Aces have a chance to become repeat champions for the first time since the 2001?02 season.

The Aces pulled off a resounding victory of 104-76 in Game 2 at the Michelob Ultra Arena on Wednesday. Historical statistics loom large in favor of the Aces as teams that have gone up 2-0 in a best-of-five WNBA playoff series have an unblemished 17-0 record. Conversely, teams trailing 0-2 in the Finals have lost eight out of eight times, with seven of those series ending in sweeps.

Game 3 is planned for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET with the Aces potentially sweeping the championship or the Liberty mounting a determined comeback.

Game 2 of the series saw New York, who had not suffered consecutive losses all season, get dominated by the Aces. Within the opening 2 minutes and 36 seconds of the game, Las Vegas took an early 10-point lead. The Aces led by 20 points at the end of the first quarter, and in the first few seconds of the second, they increased their margin to 22 points.

The Aces’ performance was nothing short of extraordinary with a 70% field goal shooting and 60% accuracy from beyond the arc in the first period. A’ja Wilson and defensive specialist Kiah Stokes were two of the five of their starters who made successful three-point attempts. The Liberty made a quick comeback in the second quarter, driven by Jonquel Jones’ 22 points and 10 rebounds. However, they were no match for the Aces who put their feet down.

The Aces resumed their unrelenting offensive attack and broke a record after scoring 99 points in Game 1. They made history by being the first WNBA team to shoot 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range in back-to-back Finals games. A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Kelsey Plum, three of the Aces’ best players, amassed an astounding total of 73 points in Game 2, which was almost equal to the Liberty’s final tally of 76 points. With their combined 178 points in Games 1 and 2, the fearsome quartet of Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson, and Jackie Young set a record for the most points scored by four teammates in a two-game span in WNBA playoff history.

The Liberty, on the other hand, had trouble finding their shooting rhythm. They registered a dismal 36.1% field goal percentage and 22.9% from outside the arc, both of which were worse than their performance in Game 1. Breanna Stewart, the 2x Finals MVP, was restricted to just 14 points on 6-for-17 shooting. Top guards Courtney Vandersloot and Sabrina Ionescu struggled with their shooting, combining for just 19 points on 5-for-19 attempts.

The Aces are now on the verge of winning the championship, while the Liberty have a mammoth task ahead of them as they try to get back into the series. The WNBA community waits in anticipation to find out if the Aces will become the WNBA champions for two consecutive years.

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Who are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments below!