WNBA: Can the Aces prove that rivalry with the Liberty is not done?

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During the 2023 WNBA offseason, the additions of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot not only established the New York Liberty as a “super team,” but also as the foremost rival to the Las Vegas Aces.

The first game between the two teams, a late-June 2023 matchup in Vegas, suggested the idea of an Aces-Liberty rivalry might outpace the reality, as the reigning champion Aces asserted their authority with a 17-point victory.

However, when the teams met three times over 11 days in August 2023, the Liberty announced their legitimacy, winning two of the three games, including the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup. Yet, the Aces triumphed when it mattered the most. Although undermanned by the end of the series, they completed a 3-1 2023 WNBA Finals victory over the Liberty to repeat as champions.

Next season, a motivated New York team swept the regular-season series 3-0, outscoring Vegas by 24 points across the three games. Yet, it was easy to believe that the Aces, the battle-tested two-time champs, again would prevail in the postseason.

Instead, the Liberty found an extra edge, spoiling the Aces’ three-peat bid in the semifinals with a 3-1 series victory on their way to the franchise’s first title. It’s an advantage they consolidated to start the 2025 season, when New York scored a dominating 92-78 win in the opener in Barclays.

That gives the Liberty 11 total wins over the Aces since the start of the 2023 season, while the Aces have just six wins. So, is this still a rivalry? Or, can the Liberty claim to own the Aces? The teams meet for the second of three times this season on Tuesday night in Brooklyn (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

The overall state of Vegas raises further skepticism. While a Sunday win over the Connecticut Sun allowed the Aces to return to .500, their play remains uninspiring. That they’ve been outscored by 27 points on the season suggests they’re lucky to be treading at 9-9 and in eighth place in the WNBA standings, just inside the playoff picture. The defensive decline is particularly puzzling, especially since they swapped 5-foot-8 Kelsey Plum for 5-foot-11 Jewell Loyd, a size upgrade that presumably would strengthen the team’s defensive infrastructure. Loyd, however, has been lost in Vegas, with the 2023 WNBA scoring champion averaging the fewest points per game of her career as she has faded into a low-usage offensive option whose effectiveness is limited to 3-point shooting.

The Liberty, in contrast, looked poised for a repeat romp through the league until a Jonquel Jones ankle injury disrupted their dominance. After starting 9-0, New York is 3-6 since, most recently suffering their worst home loss of the season to the Seattle Storm. At 12-6 overall and in third place in the standings, they still rank second in offensive and defensive rating. New York’s new entry into this theoretical rivalry also has been more successful than Vegas’. If Loyd has lost the best version of herself in Vegas, Natasha Cloud has found hers in Brooklyn. A streaky shooter, Cloud is exceeding her career shooting percentages, and more importantly, she is providing precise playmaking, leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, in addition to high-pressure point-of-attack defense.

It might seem strange, but the Liberty, in need of a win, probably feel good about seeing the Aces on the schedule. That attitude suggests the rivalry is no more. Can Vegas change that with a victory?