Defense not optional. The New York Liberty opened up their three game road trip with a night time party against the Los Angeles Sparks. Nobody played any defense and the Liberty did just enough to walk out of LA with the win. No time to celebrate since the level of competition will jump a few notches tonight.
The opponent tonight is still hanging around despite everything. The Las Vegas Aces have had some incredibly LOUD losses in 2025, but they’re still in the thick of the playoff picture. They helped themselves immensely with home win against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday night.
ESPN is the place to be. Tip after 9:30 PM.
No Breanna Stewart, Nyara Sabally, or Isabelle Harrison. Kennedy Burke will suit up, and it appears she’ll be making her return to action after being out with a calf injury.
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus is on maternity leave.
New York won the first and second meetings. This is the final regular season matchup between these two clubs.
As the second scoring option, All-Star, and replacement for Kelsey Plum, Jewell Loyd has been an unmitigated disaster. She wasn’t assertive as a starter, often found herself stuck in the corners watching while her teammates tried to make things happen, and just could not put a consistent run of good hoops together. As a player coming off the bench? Very, very, very good! In seven games coming off the bench, Loyd is averaging close to 15 points a night on .452/.412/.889 shooting splits. Although she doesn’t start, she’s someone that can be on the court down the stretch and can be trusted to make big plays. It takes time for star players to find their footing in a new city, and it looks like Loyd has finally gotten used to her new environment.
When you try to hide a weaker defender on Leonie Fiebich, bad things happen. The Sparks learned that the hard way when they had Kelsey Plum guarding her. When Fiebich is an active participant in the offense, she makes the Liberty next to impossible to beat. She does everything well and her size creates mismatches every possession down.
The big focus for Leo tonight will be defending Chelsea Gray. Gray hasn’t had any success against the Liberty since Fiebich joined the team and Leo has consistently made things difficult for the future Hall of Famer.
Considering the level of opponent, look for the Liberty defense to be a lot more dialed in tonight. Having Kennedy Burke back will help immensely as KB can guard multiple positions and allow for everyone else on the roster to get a bit of a breather. The team has been running ragged for a while and anybody who can provide good minutes will be a lifesaver.
Player to watch: A’ja Wilson
It’s only right we focus here after Wilson secured the first 30/20 game in WNBA history. She’s had to do everything to keep this Aces franchise afloat, and damn it she’s done it. Wilson leads the W in blocks and is second in points and rebounds. Amazingly, she’s doing all that in just 30.5 minutes per game. Wilson is everything you could ever want in a franchise player and has made the Aces respectable despite everything going on with them this season. She left the second Liberty matchup early due to an injury, so we’ll get to see the former MVP at the peak of her powers tonight.
The Liberty dynamic duo will draw this matchup tonight. Jonquel Jones and Emma Meesseman were outstanding last night and will handle all the center minutes with Isabelle Harrison in concussion protocol. Despite some loud lapses on defense, Jones was otherwise excellent as her 21/11/3/2 set the tone for the Liberty offense early on. Meesseman has continued to get comfortable with her new team and had 24/9/4/1. She’s always in the right place at the right time and for a Liberty team that is looking to find the right lineup mix to repeat as WNBA champions, Meesseman’s presence and excellence will give Sandy Brondello plenty of options to work with.
The last time the Liberty touched down in Vegas, it was a party