Will New York Liberty maintain momentum after besting Las Vegas Aces again?

NEW YORK — On the night before the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces faced off for the fourth time this August, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello finally got to bed at a normal hour. She was almost too familiar with her team’s upcoming opponent, having coached against them on Aug. 15 and Aug. 17. New York’s games against Las Vegas were so recent that Brondello said she was just getting back on a regular sleep schedule after having her desired bedtime of 11 p.m. ET altered by the Liberty’s recent West Coast swing.

Less than two hours before tipoff on Monday evening, Brondello admitted she was still, at times, tired. So too were members of the Aces. Las Vegas’ 94-85 loss to New York came at the end of a four-game road trip, and a stretch of 11 games in 23 days. Coach Becky Hammon said before the game that her team was in such need of a break that she thought of pulling a “Pop Jr.,” and resting her stars — a reference to her mentor San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s affinity for load management. “I feel a little bit like I’m pressing the gas, but there’s no gas in the tank,” Hammon said.

Part of New York’s nine-point victory over Las Vegas can be attributed to opponent fatigue. Las Vegas jumped out to a 16-7 lead just over six minutes into the first quarter. But in the ensuing 13 minutes, the reigning WNBA champions allowed New York to go on a 31-10 run, creating a deficit from which they would never recover.

As the final seconds of the first half ticked down, with Liberty All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu having buried her third 3-pointer for her 17th point, Hammon put her hands on her hips. “It’s inexcusable. It’s borderline negligent,” she said of allowing Ionescu to attempt 10 3-pointers in the game’s first 20 minutes. Hammon left her hands there until deciding it was time to head to the locker room as the Aces trailed by 12.

However, tired legs were only partly why New York defeated Las Vegas for the third time this season (including its Commissioner’s Cup championship victory less than two weeks ago). Instead, as the WNBA regular season nears its conclusion, the Liberty also appear to be the more complete of the league’s two top teams.

Entering Monday night, New York was No. 1 in offensive and defensive rating in August. Offensively, the basketball seldom sticks as much as it did through the season’s first half, with New York’s 71.2 percent mark ranking second league-wide this month. The Liberty are also more effective on the glass than they once were with center Jonquel Jones emerging as a consistent presence around the rim.

“The growth is (that) the chemistry is there,” Brondello said. “They know how to change things from one possession to the next, and there’s self-accountability too, and that certainly helps.”

Next month, the Liberty will head into the postseason having beaten the Aces three times in games of significance, with a plus-17 point-differential. They’ve…