Liberty lose Game 4 crusher as Aces win back-to-back WNBA titles

Barclays Center crowned its first basketball champion — but it isn’t one of its own.

What started as a hopeful Game 4 for the Liberty and ticket back to Vegas for a decisive Game 5 on Friday, turned into a crushing 70-69 loss to a depleted Aces squad on Wednesday night.

Without point guard Chelsea Gray and center Kiah Stokes, the Aces still managed to earn back-to-back titles — the WNBA’s first in 21 years — as they rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit.

And the Liberty superteam came up short when Courtney Vandersloot’s last-second 3-pointer was off the mark.

A’ja Wilson — named Finals MVP — led the Aces with 24 points and 16 rebounds, followed by Jackie Young and Cayla George with 16 and 11 points, respectively, in front of raucous capacity crowd that included celebrities such as Sue Bird, Jason Sudeikis, Nate Burleson, Issa Rae and Fat Joe.

Prior to the Game 4, Aces head coach Becky Hammon admitted she was pulling everything from her sleeve to have a chance to limit the Liberty from tying the series.

“We’re going to be throwing the kitchen sink at ’em. See what sticks,” she said. “See what works. I don’t know. We’re doing some stuff we’ve never done.”

And it paid off.

A physical game was key for the Aces, which was evident from the start.

They limited Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, who were the difference-makers in Game 3, to a combined 16 points.

Jones finished 3-for-8 from the field while Stewart, the regular-season MVP, was a dismal 3-for-17.

The Aces dominated the paint with 44 points to the Liberty’s 24.

The Liberty were up 39-30 at the half and 42-30 after Sabrina Ionescu hit a 3, but they struggled from there, scoring just 14 points in an uninspired third quarter.

The Aces closed the third on an 11-0 run to take a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The lead quickly grew to 60-53, but the Liberty clawed back.

The home team found a spark to test the Aces.

Betnijah Laney took an aggressive drive to add two points and on the following possession, Ionescu made a deep 3 to get the Liberty within two.

Laney later found Vandersloot alone underneath the basket for two to tie it at 62-62 with under five minutes to play.

The Aces again built a six-point lead with two minutes left.

But the Liberty made one last run.

Vandersloot delivered with a 3-point shot, got a steal off of Kelsey Plum, and found Ionescu for a two-point jumper to get them within one point with 41.7 seconds left.

The Liberty forced a miss by Wilson and had the ball in their hands, down one, with 8.8 seconds left.

However, Vandersloot missed a tough-angle 3-pointer at the buzzer, ending the Liberty season in heartbreak.