How New York Liberty’s length could be WNBA semifinals key: ‘It looks like an NBA roster’

NEW YORK — The final basket of Breanna Stewart’s 34-point clinic on Sunday to open the WNBA semifinals was never going to be blocked. Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson tried — elevating as high as she could as the seconds ticked down on both the shot and game clock — but the New York Liberty star skied over Wilson’s outstretched arms.

With just over a minute remaining in New York’s eventual 87-77 victory, Stewart elevated for a runner. A step in front of the free-throw line, she leaped, flicked the basketball with her right hand and watched it carom off the backboard and drop into the hoop.

Stewart ran back down the floor emphatically nodding her head after her basket served as a delightful dagger enjoyed by the sellout Barclays Center crowd of more than 14,000 fans.

What happened next wasn’t surprising either. Stewart deflected a layup by Aces guard Kelsey Plum.

Stewart’s arms were everywhere on Sunday — during that late-game sequence, on numerous New York offensive possessions in which she knocked down nearly unguardable mid-range jumpers, on defensive switches and when her arms got into passing lanes. “Sometimes the ball might be out of reach, but (I’m) still able to make a play,” Stewart said.

Plum might have scored 24 points to lead Las Vegas, but she was only focused on the loss. “That’s the only thing that I really see,” she said.

Sunday’s result was largely because of another L-word: Length.

That New York’s length was impactful wasn’t exactly a surprise. Heading into the series, both teams recognized the other as familiar foes. New York swept its three regular-season meetings against Las Vegas, and, of course, there was history between them last year. The Liberty won the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup over the Aces, and later, more importantly, the Aces defeated the Liberty for the 2023 WNBA championship.

Las Vegas knows what to expect against New York. Nevertheless, before Saturday’s practice, Aces coach Becky Hammon reminded players who they were going up against.

“It looks like an NBA roster,” she said of New York’s length. “It really puts into perspective how big they are and how mobile they are.”

She put the wingspan of each of New York’s starters on a board. Liberty wing Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s wingspan of 6-foot-3 and 3/4 inches is nearly four inches longer than her 6-foot height. Rookie wing Leonie Fiebich stands 6-4 with a wingspan to match. Center Jonquel Jones, who is 6-6, has a nearly 6-10 wingspan.

Then there is Stewart, the two-time WNBA MVP.

She issued a correction to the Liberty’s media guide, which lists her at 6-10 3/4. “I thought my wingspan was 7-1,” she said, extending her arms in a postgame interview. “We’re going to have to confirm with the New York Liberty to re-measure that.”

The size and mobility played immediate dividends for the Liberty. They constantly switched on defense and scrambled when necessary to close out on open Aces. New York disrupted Las Vegas’ pick-and-roll actions. And when the Aces tried to drive baseline? “It was not good things happening,” Hammon said, adding that New York cut off corner opportunities, too.

Stewart’s wingspan made a difference on offense as well. She scored 20 points in the first half and passed Lisa Leslie for the longest streak of double-digit performances (35) in WNBA postseason history. “She had too many mismatches,” Hammon said. “We were switching guards onto her and (Jones) in the first half, and we’re not supposed to do that. They destroyed us in there. Both the bigs.”

Jones finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. And though Fiebich added only 6 points, she was plus-19 in 35 minutes, leading New York in plus/minus for the third consecutive playoff game. Fiebich is still new to the Liberty’s starting lineup. Before New York’s first-round series last week against the Atlanta Dream, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello started her and moved Courtney Vandersloot to the bench. Brondello said she wanted two playmakers on the floor at all times. But the move had other benefits: Because of Fiebich’s size, strength and length, New York can switch almost any screen defensively. (Sunday’s starters had a plus-85.2 defensive rating in the regular season.)

Fiebich opened the series against the Aces guarding Plum. Afterward, the 24-year-old German rookie wasn’t pleased with her performance. “I’m such a perfectionist on defense that I didn’t really feel like it was great defense,” Fiebich said.

Still, Fiebich repeatedly disrupted other Aces when scrambling around the floor. Most notably, Aces guard Chelsea Gray was hounded by Fiebich at the end of the third quarter and was unable to get a shot off.

Afterward, Vandersloot thought back to one of her earliest memories of Fiebich, seeing her switch onto a center in an early-season contest. “It’s not really a mismatch,” Vandersloot said she thought to herself. “What a luxury that is to have her be able to guard the smallest girl on the floor and then switch out onto somebody without having to get into rotations.”

Of course, the greatest luxury of all for New York is Stewart, who laughed afterward about how hard it is to find long sleeves that fit.

There is an old adage in basketball: You can’t teach height. At this point in the playoffs, you can’t teach length either. Instead, Hammon and her staff will be tasked with trying to counteract New York defenders’ arms. A possible solution?

“You gotta spread them out,” Hammon said. “You gotta get to space. You have to space, and the ball has to move. If the ball doesn’t move, and we grab it and we analyze, their length becomes an issue again because everybody recovers back to their own.”

In theory, Las Vegas knew what was coming on Sunday as well. Aces guard Jackie Young said she knew that New York’s length would affect shots and passing lanes. Gray said it forces players into higher release points on their shots. “That poses a challenge at both ends,” Gray said.

And it did. Gray scored only 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Game 2 is Tuesday evening in New York. Hammon called it “do-or-die.” But at least for one afternoon, the two-time defending champion Aces couldn’t stop what they knew was coming.

New York fans inside Barclays Center waved their arms (and white towels) in delight as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Liberty arms were all over the imprint of Game 1. “They punched us in the nose,” Hammon said. “No doubt about it.”

(Photo of Breanna Stewart: Evan Yu / NBAE via Getty Images)