2023 WNBA Finals
The 2023 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2023 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2023 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The finals featured the first-seeded Las Vegas Aces facing off against the second-seeded New York Liberty.[1][2] The Aces defeated the Liberty in 4 games, winning their second WNBA Championship in a row. The Aces became the first team in twenty one years, and only the third in history to repeat as WNBA Champions.[3]
Team
October 8 – 18
New York Liberty defeated Connecticut Sun 3–1
Las Vegas Aces defeated Dallas Wings 3–0
Summary[edit]
Game 1[edit]
The Liberty started game one off well, stealing a close first quarter 25–22. The game continued to be tight throughout the second quarter, which ended in a 24–24 tie. Therefore, the Liberty enjoyed a slim three point lead going into halftime. However, the Aces rallied behind the home crowd coming out of halftime and won the third quarter 26–16. They continued their dominance into the fourth quarter winning 27–17. Their twenty-point second half win took them to a seventeen-point game one win. The Aces only had five players score points, and four of them scored in double figures. The Aces were led by Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young who each scored twenty-six points. Chelsea Gray added twenty points and A'ja Wilson scored nineteen. The Liberty had five players score in double figures and were led by Breanna Stewart who had twenty-one points. Jonquel Jones scored sixteen points, Marine Johannès scored fourteen points, Betnijah Laney scored eleven, and Courtney Vandersloot rounded out the double digit scorers with ten points. The Liberty only had two other players score in the game. Jones continued her streak of double-doubles by recording ten rebounds. Jones now has the most double-doubles in a single postseason in WNBA history, with seven.[5][6]