WNBA playoffs: Defending champion Las Vegas throttles New York to avoid elimination | WNBA

Jackie Young scored 24 points and the Las Vegas Aces took control with a 16-point run in the third quarter on Friday night and avoided elimination with a 95-81 victory over the New York Liberty in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals.

The Liberty, who lead the series 2-1, will have another chance to knock off the two-time defending champion Aces on Sunday. If Las Vegas wins this, there will be a winner-take-all Game 5 in New York on Tuesday.

This was the Aces' 12th consecutive home playoff win, breaking the WNBA record held by the Los Angeles Sparks (2001–04) and Sacramento Monarchs (2003–06).

Las Vegas beat the Liberty for the first time this year. New York won all three meetings of the regular season and the first two games of this series.

Additionally, Kelsey Plum scored 20 points, A'ja Wilson had 19 points and 14 rebounds, Tiffany Hayes had 11 points and Chelsea Gray totaled 10 points and seven assists. The Aces shot 52.1%, including 40.6% from the three-point line.

Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 19 points, Jonquel Jones and Nyara Sabally each scored 11 points and Leonie Fiebich had 10 points.

Sabrina Ionescu, who came into the game averaging 24.5 points in the playoffs, was limited to four points on 1-of-7 shooting. She was suspended until a minute into the fourth quarter, when she made a technical free throw.

A back-and-forth first half quickly became one-sided in the third quarter as the Aces turned a 57-53 lead into a 73-53 lead. New York went 7:36 between field goals and scored just six points in that period. Liberty coach Sandy Brondello called two timeouts to stop the Aces' momentum.

Las Vegas extended its lead to 78-55 early in the fourth quarter, capping a 21-2 run.

At the start of the second half it looked like the game could go either way. It was a back-and-forth affair between both teams in the first 30 minutes, which saw 18 lead changes and eight ties.

The Aces played without Kiah Stokes, who suffered a concussion late in Game 3.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić sat courtside alongside teammate Dereck Lively II, coach Jason Kidd and general manager Nico Harrison. The Mavericks' training camp took place this week in Las Vegas. Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, were also in attendance.

Minnesota Lynx 90-81 Connecticut Sun

After struggling offensively in the last game, Napheesa Collier wasn't going to let that happen again.

The Lynx star scored 26 points and Minnesota defeated the Connecticut Sun 90-81 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal game.

“Everyone has an off night and I try to contribute in other ways to help the team,” said Collier, who scored just nine points on 3 of 14 shooting in Game 2.

She worked hard on both ends of the court all season and the league's MVP runner-up had the confidence knowing the poor shooting was an isolated incident.

With Connecticut coming late, Collier also made three straight plays to change the momentum and secure the win.

Minnesota led 81-73 with 3:03 remaining when she scored, then got a deflection on the other side and capped it off with a three-pointer from Alanna Smith, making it a 13-point game.

“It's crisis time, I knew I had to be aggressive, especially in one-on-one coverage,” Collier said. “Then, you know, since we were just the same on the other side, we had to be really aggressive. In the end they played with desperation.”

Game 4 takes place on Sunday in Connecticut, with the Lynx looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season ended with Minnesota's fourth championship in seven years. Game 5 would be played Tuesday night in Minnesota if necessary.

Collier had 16 points in the first half Friday night and was aggressive from the start. Minnesota led by seven points after one quarter and 48-36 at halftime thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the first 20 minutes.

The Sun tried to rally and cut the deficit to seven on a three-point play by Marina Mabrey midway through the third quarter. But that's all they could achieve.

“A difficult thing for us. They’re doing what they wanted to do on offense,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said. “We didn’t prepare well enough for the game today. We were outplayed, outplayed and outwitted.”

Brionna Jones, who had just eight points in the first two games combined, led Connecticut with 21.

DeWanna Bonner scored 16 points for the Sun in the third quarter and moved into second place on the WNBA career postseason scoring list. She overtook Candace Parker, who reached 1,149 in her illustrious career. Bonner now has 1,159 points and is ahead of Parker with a free throw with 1:36 left in the quarter. Phoenix's Diana Taurasi is in the lead with 1,455.

All five Sun starters scored in double figures, but the bench barely contributed. The Sun reserves were outscored 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.

The first two games saw discord between teams who prided themselves on their physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams of the regular season – the Sun allowed an average of 73.6 points per game and the Lynx 75.6.

There were hard fouls on both sides in the two games in Minnesota. There wasn't much of that at all in Game 3.

“I just thought it was a slugfest through and through,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of the first two games. “And I’m pretty sure they felt the same way.”

There was also a lot of nonsense on the court, particularly between Courtney Williams and Mabrey. The two were teammates in Chicago last year and say it's all fun on the court and there's no bad blood between them.