It's certainly not the first time they've lost their composure while visiting Las Vegas.
But for the first time this postseason, Liberty was rattled.
Defensively, they couldn't stop the ace.
I couldn't find an attack bucket anywhere I went.
They seemed lost and unable to get back on their feet.
And the raucous crowd inside the Michelob Ultra Arena went wild.
Despite trailing 52-49 at halftime, Liberty allowed the Aces to go on a 16-0 run in the third quarter for a 95-81 win Friday night and best of the game. They avoided defeat in the third game. 5 series.
After cruising through the first two games at home at Barclays Center, the Liberty unraveled in Las Vegas.
“Obviously, playing on your home court is a little different,” Liberty star Brianna Stewart said after the game. “You build confidence behind that, and Las Vegas did that for us. We got a little bit more speed offensively. It doesn't matter if we score or not, we have to score as well. Until the half. It was 52-49 and then 16-0, which is crazy.”
Liberty posted a 16-4 record at home during the regular season, matching their 16-4 record on the road.
In fact, the Aces did slightly better on the road during the regular season, going 14-6 at home compared to 13-7.
But the home court advantage was clear Friday night.
Once the Aces grabbed the momentum in the third quarter, Liberty went on a spiral.
And they could not compose themselves.
In this loss, they shot just 38.8 percent from the field, their worst result of the postseason.
In the first two games, won by a combined 14 points, Liberty shot a combined 49.6 percent from the field.
“They brought physicality,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. “They were intentional about how they wanted to play. There was a little less separation. It felt like there was more bonding than in other games. That's going to happen.
“They saw success and gave us more energy. We took things away from things that were good for us. We increased the speed of our offense, but we moved our offense around. We didn't set up a screen or roll hard. All the little things we knew we could do but didn't. [do]. Especially in that third quarter, we couldn't make shots, we made bad decisions, and they conceded points. ”
October 4th. Getty Images
Liberty lost Game 3 on October 4th. Getty Images
The Aces' field goal percentage was 52.1 percent, the highest in the postseason thus far.
They made 13 3-pointers, the most in the postseason.
They looked like two-time defending champions and are finally starting to act like one.
As the crowd grew into the match, so did Ace.
“Defensively, we weren't where we should have been,” Stewart said. “They were playing in a lot of space. They were already hitting a lot of 3s in the first half. When they had the space to make more, they had confidence in it.”
Friday's loss was Liberty's first loss of the postseason.
And for the first time this postseason, the Aces faced elimination.
It was shown.
Game 4 will be held in Las Vegas.
Since Liberty is the higher seed, Game 5 will return to Barclays Center if necessary.
“We're trying to finish the team's season,” Stewart said. “To keep moving forward and to know that they're going to throw everything at you, they're going to be aggressive, they're going to take advantage of the fans, they're going to take advantage of the momentum behind them. I We weren't prepared for all of that. We didn't come for the hard stuff. This isn't easy, and we saw it tonight.
“Teams are most dangerous when they have their backs against the wall. They're going to throw everything at you. They came out and did what they had to do tonight.”
