The first rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals finally took place last week. After the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty met 10 times over the course of the 2023 season, it felt a little strange to wait more than a month to see the preseason title favorites face off in 2024.
What wasn’t unusual was how the game turned one-sided in the fourth quarter. Other than the closeout game of last season’s finals, every matchup in 2023 had a similar tenor. Except now, the roles have been reversed. New York has raced out to a 12-2 season start and looks like the team to beat, while Las Vegas is struggling to find its identity.
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On the Liberty’s side, they preached patience all of 2023, acknowledging that they didn’t have the chemistry in year one of their super team status. They’ve gotten their reps now. The offense revolves around two-player actions with Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones with Breanna Stewart as a safety valve when plays break down. They have length and athleticism surrounding that trio and make opponents account for their size. Courtney Vandersloot’s absence has inadvertently forced New York into a new identity, one that emphasizes its positional versatility and defense.
she’s been HER 👑 pic.twitter.com/S8sD9OlCLN
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) June 15, 2024
The Aces, on the other hand, are completely out of sorts without the steadying hand of their starting point guard. Their offense has one constant in A’ja Wilson, but defenses are creating congestion around her spots, and Las Vegas is taking the bait by failing to get its superstar a touch on every possession. The defense hasn’t been up to task either, particularly on the perimeter, and the Aces were burned by the Liberty from 3-point range.
As is always the case during the regular season, schedule caveats exist. New York had nearly a full week off after playing Washington on June 9, while Las Vegas played three games after that before facing the Liberty. Gray’s return will bring more cohesion and joy to the Aces.
But even if Las Vegas gets back to its 2023 form, there’s no guarantee that will be good enough to counter this version of New York. Jonquel Jones is back to her 2021 MVP form, and on Saturday, she — not Wilson — was the biggest matchup problem on the court. The Liberty withstood runs from the Aces and calmly executed on the road, the mark of a battle-tested team. Their team-building process is going according to plan, even if they had to withstand the scars of defeat in 2023 to get here.
| Rank | Team | Last week's rank |
|---|---|---|
1 | New York | 1 |
2 | Minnesota | 2 |
3 | Connecticut | 3 |
4 | Phoenix | 6 |
5 | Seattle | 4 |
6 | Las Vegas | 5 |
7 | Indiana | 11 |
8 | Atlanta | 7 |
9 | Chicago | 8 |
10 | Los Angeles | 9 |
11 | Washington | 12 |
12 | Dallas | 10 |
Three standout performances
1. Ariel Atkins finds some redemption
It has been a tough start for the Washington Mystics, who lost 12 in a row before winning their first game and have had two of their best players (Brittney Sykes and Shakira Austin) out with injury for most games. Atkins arguably has had it even worse. Being pressed into the No. 1 option has compromised Atkins’ efficiency, as she’s shooting below 40 percent for the first time in her career. To top it off, the 2021 Olympian and 2022 World Cup champion was left off this summer’s Team USA roster despite being a regular attendee at national team camps the past two years.
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That had to make it satisfying for Atkins to discover her All-Star/Olympic form, at least for two games, as the Mystics found the win column. She totaled 47 points on 15-of-23 shooting in victories over the Dream and the Sky this week, posting her two highest plus-minuses of the season (plus-8 in both contests). Sykes’ presence aided her in the first game, but the second performance was all Atkins, who used her quickness to get downhill repeatedly against Chicago’s defense, scoring at will in the paint and at the foul line. This is the type of perimeter threat Washington needs to complement rookie Aaliyah Edwards, especially with Sykes back on the injured list.
2. DiJonai Carrington’s transition highlight reel
Carrington gets the most love for her defensive activity. She’s long and quick and is incredibly difficult to shake free from. The Sun are perfectly suited to enable her aggression at the point of attack because they rotate well behind her, and she has produced a catalog of defensive highlights to begin the season.
But my favorite thing about watching Carrington play, which was on full display in Connecticut’s three games this past week, is how she finishes on the fast break. Whether it’s with her right or her left, a reverse or a step-through, Carrington has such confidence and grace in transition, regularly scoring in ways that demand an immediate rewind. Something about a running head start makes Carrington incredibly fluid in the open floor, even when there are defenders challenging her. She finishes more plays (28 percent of her total) in transition than 94 percent of WNBA players. She also converts 60 percent of her 2-pointers on the break.
Carrington’s willingness to get out and run, combined with her success doing so, also makes her perfectly suited for the Sun roster, because Alyssa Thomas is one of the finest outlet passers in the world. Thomas has 16 assists to Carrington this season, and half have come on fast breaks. Thomas always has her head up when possession changes, and Carrington knows she’ll be rewarded for sprinting the floor.
3. Atlanta treading water is a step back
On the surface, nothing is objectively wrong with the Dream’s season. They have a .500 record – same as the Aces and Mercury, two teams with championship aspirations – and are experiencing a renaissance from Tina Charles after she didn’t play last season in the WNBA.
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But Atlanta hasn’t improved from last year. The Dream are two spots lower in the standings than in 2023, their offense has taken a step back, and last week, in an attempt to shake up a dreary roster, Tanisha Wright benched Cheyenne Parker-Tyus for Nia Coffey. The 2023 All-Star center hasn’t been nearly as effective playing next to another center in Charles, but the immediate result of Parker-Tyus coming off the bench was that Atlanta lost to Washington (the Mystics’ first win of the season!) and Indiana in the same week before relying on a fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Sparks at home.
With four like-sized wings in the starting five (Coffey, Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray and Haley Jones), the defense is perfectly solid, but the offense feels almost archaic. The Dream don’t take many 3s, but they don’t rebound the ball well enough to be a bully-ball team in the paint. They don’t commit many turnovers, but that’s because they don’t pass much. Atlanta games feature lots of isos and midrange jumpers. The Dream shot 36 and 42 percent, respectively, from the field in their two losses last week and then 44 percent in the win. If they don’t get to the foul line at least 20 times, they’re toast.
Atlanta has too much talent to be this offensively unimaginative. With the overall level of play league-wide taking a step forward in 2024, treading water means the Dream are losing ground.
Rookie of the week
Rickea Jackson, Los Angeles Sparks
Heading into the WNBA Draft, general managers were fairly united in their assessment of Rickea Jackson: a professional scorer who could get buckets in a hurry and in a variety of ways. As she settles into her rookie season with the Sparks, Jackson is living up to the billing. The forward had her best game of the season before last week, when L.A. ran its offense through her down the stretch against the Aces, and she continues to put up strong scoring performances as she acclimates to the physicality.
Against Minnesota on Friday, Jackson mostly settled in the restricted area and used her size and strength to finish dump-offs and second chances. Against Atlanta, she did a little bit of everything. Jackson hit a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer and also scored on a post-up with her back to the basket. She finished through contact in transition, identified mismatches to attack, and even crossed over former rookie of the year Rhyne Howard. One of her most impressive plays was a lob into Li Yueru as Jackson came off a dribble handoff and had the center re-screen for a pick-and-roll; that playmaking ability isn’t what Jackson is known for, but she’s using her scoring threat to start creating for others.
Rickea the Rook showed out tonight. 🔥
16 PTS | 3 REB | 2 AST pic.twitter.com/yKVtUQLBsj
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) June 16, 2024
Jackson is third among rookies in scoring and third in field-goal percentage among those who play at least 10 minutes per game. She’s 13th overall among forwards in field-goal percentage, converting her buckets at a higher clip than All-Stars such as Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and DeWanna Bonner. Sparks coach Curt Miller was beaming at Jackson’s maturity as she spoke about the need to defend and be physical in order to earn her minutes. She’s already staked her claim to a starting role and is demanding more touches as the second-most efficient scorer on L.A.
Game to circle
New York Liberty at Phoenix Mercury, 10 p.m. (ET) Tuesday
The Liberty come in as the hottest team in the league, winners of eight in a row. The first victory in that streak came against Phoenix, but on New York’s home court when Brittney Griner and Rebecca Allen were unavailable for the Mercury. Even so, Phoenix was within two possessions for the entire fourth quarter. Now, the Mercury are whole and on their home court, where they have the second-best offensive rating in the league (106.7 points per 100 possessions), incidentally, trailing only the Liberty. Jonquel Jones has been on quite a tear, and now she faces the one center in the league with the size to potentially frustrate her, while New York is bigger at every other position, which will test Phoenix’s switching defense. Two teams that like to move the ball and space the floor should produce a fun, up-tempo contest.
(Photo of A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Sabreena Merchant is a women's basketball Staff Writer for The Athletic. She previously covered the WNBA and NBA for SB Nation. Sabreena is an alum of Duke University, where she wrote for the independent student newspaper, The Chronicle. She is based in Los Angeles. Follow Sabreena on Twitter @sabreenajm
