Anyone that bought a 2026 regular-season ticket to get a glimpse of MVP-frontrunner A’ja Wilson at Barclays Center went away almost empty handed.
The Liberty easily took care of the Aces, 111-71, in a game head coach Becky Hammon opted to rest her star trio — A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray.
This comes more than a month after Wilson missed an Aces Commissioner’s Cup Final loss due to a right leg injury.
And the most recent DNPs were a result of a brutal five-game road swing that ended with a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back — beginning with a loss to No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx tipping off less than 24 hours prior to the Liberty defeat.
The afternoon win gave the Liberty its seventh victory in the last eight games.
“The vibe was we were a little bit disappointed to be honest with you because we were really looking forward to the matchup,” Jonquel Jones said of the Aces stars sitting. “We also felt like this was going to be a really good game to kind of gauge ourselves against [them] with all of the momentum… that we have had.
“But, obviously they have to do what’s right for their team. They have to do what’s right for their bodies. But as competitors, we really wanted to match up against them.”
But at least fans got to witness a career performance from Liberty guard Marine Johannes.
Johannes took full advantage of her extended reserve minutes, pouring in a career-high 27 points on seven made three-pointers. Twenty of those points came in the second half with the Liberty leaving no chance of a letdown after a strong start.
“Well it just feels good,” Johannes said of the performance. “Knowing that they were missing players, we had to stay ready and we had to stay focused. [The starting five], but the bench too, we did a pretty good job.”
The game was over way before the final buzzer, with Johannes’ third-quarter buzzer-beating heave giving the Liberty a 23-point lead entering the fourth. That lead stretched to as many as 40 points by the end of the game.
The biggest positive for Chris DeMarco’s squad was the ability to rest his starters.
No one in the Liberty’s starting lineup played more than Breanna Stewart’s 23 minutes. New York outscored Las Vegas by 21 while on the court as she logged 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Jones logged 15 points and eight rebounds while Rebecca Allen poured 13 and grabbed eight boards.
DeMarco’s bench contributed 58 points.
“If every game could be like this, it would be incredible,” Stewart said. “But I think that it was good to see everybody kind of get going, get confident, especially that group in the fourth. Like scoring 37 points is nuts in the fourth quarter.”
Aces reserve Ta’Niya Latson led the Aces in points with 20 in 24 minutes.
No one in the Aces’ makeshift starting lineup — Jewell Loyd, Dana Evans, NaLyssa Smith, Brianna Turner and Stephanie Talbot — scored more than seven points.
