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]
In November 2021, the WNBA Board of Governors formalized a new playoff system that will structure the 2022 playoffs onward. The new playoff format scraps the single-elimination games of the first two rounds in favor of a best-of-3 quarterfinal round. As a result, all eight playoff teams, seeded according to overall regular season record regardless of conference (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5), will begin postseason play in the first round. Since 2016, seeds 3 and 4 received a bye to the second round (single game) and seeds 1 and 2 received a bye to the semifinals (best-of-5). In the first round series, the higher seeded team will host games 1 and 2, and the lower seeded team will host game 3 if necessary. In the semifinal round, no reseeding will take place, which means the winners of the 1 vs. 8 series will be paired with the winner of the 4 vs. 5 series as will the winners of the 2 vs. 7 and 3 vs. 6 series. The semifinal and final rounds will remain best-of-5 series in which the higher seeded team hosts games 1, 2 and (if necessary) 5 while the lower seeded team hosts games 3 and (if necessary) 4.[4]
The Las Vegas Aces qualified for the finals after finishing first in the regular season standings with a 34–6 regular season record. They defeated the Chicago Sky 2–0 in the first round and the Dallas Wings 3–0 in the Semifinals. This was the Ace's second straight finals appearance, and third appearance in four years. They are the defending WNBA Champions.
The New York Liberty qualified for the finals after finishing second in the regular season standings with a 32–8 regular season record. They defeated the Washington Mystics 2–0 in the first round and the Connecticut Sun 3–1 in the Semifinals. This was the Liberty's first appearance in the finals since 2002.
The Aces had an extra two days of rest coming into the finals, as their Semifinal series ended on September 29, but the Liberty had to play a fourth game in their series on October 1. The Liberty have had to play one games in their Semifinal rounds. The teams played four times in the regular season, with the teams splitting the series 2–2. The teams also met in the Commissioners Cup Final, which the Liberty won.
Summary
Game 1
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]
Michelob Ultra Arena Attendance: 10,300 Referees: Roy Gulbeyan Tim Green Fatou Cissoko-Stephens
Game 2
The Aces got off to a flying start in game two of the series, winning the first quarter by nineteen points, 38–19. The Liberty made a comeback in the second quarter, winning by eleven points, 25–14. However, it was not enough to overcome the first quarter defect and the Aces took an eight-point lead into halftime. Similarly to game one, the Aces came out of the halftime break strong and won the third quarter 28–13. The Aces took a twenty-three point lead into the fourth quarter and continued to dominate the game. The Aces won the fourth quarter by five points, 24–19. The Aces won game two by twenty-eight points and took a 2–0 series lead into the series games played in New York.
The Aces had four players score in double figures and were led by A'ja Wilson with twenty-six points. Jackie Young scored twenty-four points, Kelsey Plum scored twenty-three points and Chelsea Gray rounded out the double digit scorers with fourteen points. Wilson and Gray both recorded double-doubles in the game. Wilson by virtue of her fifteen rebounds and Gray via her eleven assists. The Liberty also had four double digit scorers and were led by Jonquel Jones with twenty-two points. Breanna Stewart scored fourteen points, Betnijah Laney added twelve points, and Sabrina Ionescu scored ten points. Stewart and Jones also scored double-doubles by having thirteen and ten rebounds, respectively.
Michelob Ultra Arena Attendance: 10,232 Referees: Michael Price Eric Brewton Tiara Cruse
Game 3
The Liberty used the home crowd to their advantage in game three and got off to a 21–18 first quarter win. In the second quarter the teams were evenly matched, and the quarter finished 22–22. Therefore, the Liberty took a three-point lead into halftime in the must-win game three. The Liberty played lock-down defense in quarter three, and won 18–10. Taking an eleven-point lead into the fourth quarter, the Liberty didn't look back and won the fourth 26–23. They won game three by fourteen points in order to stay alive in the series. This was the Liberty's first win in the WNBA Finals since 1999.[7]
The Liberty had four players score in double figures and were led by Jonquel Jones with twenty-seven points. Breanna Stewart scored twenty points, and Betnijah Laney and Courtney Vandersloot scored twelve. Stewart had a double-double by recording twelve rebounds. This was the first game in the playoffs where Jones did not score a double-double. The Aces only had five players score points in the game, and three of them scored in double digits. They were led by Kelsey Plum with twenty-nine points. A'ja Wilson scored sixteen points, and Chelsea Gray scored eleven points. Wilson had a double-double with eleven rebounds.
Barclays Center Attendance: 17,143 Referees: Maj Forsberg Isaac Barnett Randy Richardson
Game 4
New York again faced elimination at home in game four and they started the game strongly by winning the first quarter 23–13. The Aces fought back in a closely contested second quarter and won 17–16. The Liberty took a nine point lead into halftime. The Aces came out of halftime and played lock-down defense limiting the Liberty to only twelve points and they won the quarter 23–12. Heading into the fourth quarter the Aces held a two-point lead. The fourth quarter was a back and forth affair, with the Liberty won 18–17. However, the one point victory was not enough to secure the game and the Aces won by a point. The win secured them their second WNBA title in a row. The Aces prevailed in game four despite starting point guard Chelsea Gray missing the game due to injury.
The Aces had four players score in double figures and were led by Finals MVP A'ja Wilson with twenty-four points. Jackie Young scored sixteen points, Cayla George scored eleven and Alysha Clark added ten. Wilson recorded her third double-double in the Finals with sixteen rebounds. The Liberty also had four players score in double digits and were led by Courtney Vandersloot with nineteen points. Betnijah Laney scored fifteen points, Sabrina Ionescu scored thirteen points, regular season MVP Breanna Stewart was held to 3-17 shooting and scored ten points. Stewart recorded a double-double with fourteen rebounds.
