Aces avoid elimination against Liberty while Lynx take 2-1 lead in series with Sun

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A return home helped Las Vegas stave off elimination by New York and look like the team that has won consecutive WNBA championships, while Connecticut couldn't stop Minnesota and take advantage of their homecourt.

Both the Aces and Sun now will try to avoid seeing their seasons end on Sunday when they host Game 4 of their semifinal series.

Las Vegas beat New York 95-81 on Friday night in Game 3 of the best-of-five semifinal series. The Aces still trail 2-1. Connecticut got down early and never really was able to get close to Minnesota, falling 90-81. The Sun are also down 2-1.

The Liberty entered their matchup having gone 5-0 against Las Vegas this year, including 2-0 in the postseason. But like in last year's WNBA Finals when a short-handed Aces team won the title on New York's floor, the Liberty know eliminating the champions is not that simple.

“We have to keep our heads up because Game 4 is coming very, very quickly,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart said. “But we need to learn quickly as well and be ready for the next game because it's not going to get any easier from here. This is the playoffs.”

The Liberty can expect another hostile atmosphere, and the Aces fed off their crowd to help stay alive.

But, more importantly, Las Vegas turned up the defensive intensity, outscoring the Liberty 42-28 in the lane and holding Sabrina Ionescu — who entered the game averaging 24.5 points — to four points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Aces coach Becky Hammon credited Kelsey Plum for helping devise the game plan that helped limit Ionescu. But the Aces know the Liberty will make their own adjustments, and how Game 4 plays out could be considerably different than Game 3.

But, for the Aces' sake, at least there's another game to play.

“The minute you get comfortable, that's when you get exposed,” Las Vegas point guard Chelsea Gray said. “We executed this game, we executed for four quarters, and so we start all over again Sunday. We're still down 2-1. We haven't done anything.”

Like Las Vegas, Connecticut will have the home crowd support, but needs to play better on the defensive end. The Sun allowed Minnesota to shoot 57% from the field and didn’t pose much of a challenge on the defensive end.

“We didn’t come to compete. It didn’t matter what we were in defensively,” Sun forward Alyssa Thomas said. “We got to look in the mirror and want it. If we’re not going to come out there and compete this is the result.”

Connecticut has been to the Finals twice since Minnesota’s run, the last time coming in 2022. The Sun lost both times.

“We’re playing for an opportunity to play in the WNBA Finals,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said. “Our back is against the wall and we know that we have to be better.”

The Lynx know closing out the Sun on the road won't be easy.

“Obviously it’s a hard thing to do. And we have to be a lot better in the areas that we really need to play against,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of finishing off the series on Sunday.

The Lynx will try and reach the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That year the team won the fourth of its championships in a seven-year span.

Doug Feinberg contributed to this story from Uncasville, Connecticut.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington (21) shoots over Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) during the second half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut Sun forward Brionna Jones (42) looks to shoot as Minnesota Lynx forward Dorka Juhasz (14) defends during the second half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) drives the ball around New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich (13) during a WNBA basketball semifinal game Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) shoots the ball near New York Liberty's Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (44) and Leonie Fiebich (13) during a WNBA basketball semifinal game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) smiles at forward Alanna Smith (8) during the second half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game against the Connecticut Sun, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

NEW YORK (AP) — George Brett watched the Kansas City Royals prepare to face the New York Yankees and remembered the combustible clashes of the 1970s.

“This isn’t a series, this is war,” said the Hall of Famer, tossing in a profanity for emphasis.

Brett slid late into Graig Nettles in 1977's Game 5 of the best-of-five AL Championship Series, catching the third baseman on the face with an arm. Nettles kicked Brett in the teeth. Brett threw a punch as benches and bullpens emptied.

“You've got to find a way to turn it up a notch,” Brett said Friday by the Royals dugout at Yankee Stadium as he watched Kansas City's workout ahead of Saturday's Division Series opener. “Obviously, if you do something that we used to do to each other out here, you’re kicked out of the game here or it’s an automatic double play or whatever. I mean, me and Nettles got in a fistfight at third base and didn't even get kicked out of the game, for crying out loud.”

Kansas City, which started play in 1969, reached the playoffs for the first time in 1976. Brett hit a tying three-run homer in the eighth inning off Grant Jackson in Game 5, but Chris Chambliss homered leading off ninth inning against Mark Littell.

A year later in the sixth inning of Game 2, Hal McRae made a leaping body block of Willie Randolph well past second base in the sixth to break up a possible inning-ending double play on Brett's grounder to Nettles, allowing Freddie Patek to score the tying run from second base.

“It didn’t take much for anybody there on either side to get into a ruckus,” Yankees star Reggie Jackson told an MLB Network documentary.

Three days later, Brett's first-inning RBI triple off Ron Guidry led to the brawl with Nettles, who was grabbed from behind by Royals third base coach Chuck Hiller as Guidry tried to restrain Brett.

“Marty Springstead was the umpire, and after everything had cleared, he goes: 'All right.' He points to me. He goes: 'This is an important guy.' He point to Brett, he goes: `This is an important guy, and this is an important game, so nobody's getting thrown out the game,' ” Nettles told the TV show Las 5 Esquinas de NY a few years ago.

Jackson was controversially benched by manager Billy Martin after starting the series 1 for 14, then had a pinch-hit single in the eighth that cut New York's deficit to 3-2. The Yankees scored three times in the ninth for a 5-3 win.

When the teams met again in the 1980 ALCS, Kansas City swept. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner fumed after third base coach Mike Ferraro sent Randolph home, trying to score from first on Bob Watson's two-out, eighth-inning double in Game 2, with New York trailing by a run. Brett took left fielder Willie Wilson's throw and relayed to catcher Darrell Porter for the out.

Manager Dick Howser refused to fire Ferraro, and Brett hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off Rich Gossage as the Royals won Game 3 to complete the sweep. Steinbrenner forced out Howser after the series and Howser was hired as Royals manager the following August. Ferraro joined his staff in 1984 and the Royals won their first World Series title in 1985.

“They both came over to Kansas City and became my dear friends,” Brett said.

His most famous moment in the Bronx occurred on July 24, 1983, in what became known as the Pine Tar Game. The Royals trailed 4-3 with two outs in the ninth when Brett hit a two-run homer off Gossage. Martin argued Brett's bat had pine tar in excess of the 18-inch limit, and plate umpire Tim McClelland agreed and signaled out. Eyes bulging, Brett stormed out of the dugout toward McClelland and had to be restrained by Howser and umpires.

Kansas City filed a protest that was upheld by AL President Lee MacPhail, who wrote “games should be won and lost on the playing field — not though technicalities of the rules.” The game continued on Aug. 18 and the Royals won 5-4.

Now in his 31st season as a Royals vice president, Brett travels with the team during the postseason to fire up the current players with the decades-old history.

“They weren't born yet. Some of our coaches weren't even born yet. I'm going to remind them,” he said. “This series means more to me than it means to them.”

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George Brett, Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame infielder and vice president of baseball operations, watches the team work out ahead of an American League Division series baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)