Half-court execution put New York’s season in Breanna Stewart’s hands with 8.8 seconds remaining in Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals. The Liberty trailed Las Vegas by one. A timeout offered enough time to organize a winning play, but no guarantee their best scorer would finish it.
Stewart caught the ball. Las Vegas sent help.
The pass reached Courtney Vandersloot in the corner, where her final attempt missed. New York’s season ended 70–69, with the Aces celebrating on the Liberty’s floor.
A year later, the Liberty would win their first championship through a different collection of answers: Sabrina Ionescu’s extraordinary range, Jonquel Jones inside, and an unexpected contribution from Nyara Sabally. Those answers mattered because opponents kept taking something away.
That is the uncomfortable work behind a championship finish. How do you create a good shot when five defenders know your favorite action? What happens when the star catches the ball and sees two jerseys? Who moves next?
The answer begins before anyone shoots.
Moving the Defense
Watch the paint when a defense gets organized. One defender meets the ball, another protects the basket, and the remaining players position themselves to discourage the next pass. The inviting gap from a fast break disappears.
An offense now has to move somebody. Half-court execution starts with that demand. A screen should force a defender to trail, switch assignments, or step away from the player she wants to guard. Passing around the perimeter without changing those positions merely gives the shot clock more work.
Consider Ionescu and Jones in a high pick-and-roll. This is a tactical example, rather than a reconstruction of one particular Finals play: Jones screens near the top, and Ionescu dribbles close enough that her defender must navigate Jones’s body.
If Jones’s defender stays near the lane, Ionescu can pull up. Stepping toward the ball opens room behind her for Jones to roll. Switching puts different defenders on both players, inviting New York to examine the new matchups.
The screen asks the question. The next movement determines whether the offense exploits the answer.
Turning the Screen
A re-screen gives that movement a specific shape. Instead of rolling immediately, Jones can turn and screen the opposite side of Ionescu’s defender. Ionescu changes direction, making the defender who just recovered navigate another obstacle.
That action differs from a pick-and-pop, where Jones moves away from the basket toward shooting space. The re-screen changes the driving angle; the pop stretches the defender’s assignment.
Neither works automatically. If Ionescu dribbles too far from Jones, her defender can squeeze through untouched. Should Jones leave before making useful contact, the defense may contain both players without committing help. Half-court execution lives in those details: the screen’s angle, the guard’s route, the instant the screener releases.
Across the court, another player must keep the escape pass available. In a lineup with Betnijah Laney-Hamilton occupying the corner, her defender has to weigh helping against surrendering a catch outside. That is the purpose of the spacing, even on a trip when Laney-Hamilton never touches the ball.
Taking Stewart Away
The 2023 finish exposed the difficulty of completing that chain under pressure. Jackie Young joined the double on Stewart, then recovered toward Vandersloot’s corner attempt. That second effort mattered as much as the first. Sending help creates a vacancy somewhere; recovering quickly can close it before the offense benefits.
New York reached its intended scorer, but Las Vegas made the next player finish. A missed shot does not automatically condemn the design. Vandersloot might convert a similar opportunity another night. The more useful question concerns what the defense forced New York to do: move the ball away from Stewart and finish against a recovering contest.
For a coach drawing the next late-game set, that sequence presents concrete choices. Could Stewart catch closer to the basket? Would a cutter behind the help defender create a shorter pass? Could an earlier entry leave enough time to attack again?
Those are possible counters, not proof that any one would have changed the result. Half-court execution requires preparing them before the double arrives. Once two defenders crowd the catch, a teammate cannot stand still and wait for instructions.
Ionescu Extends the Floor
The following Finals supplied New York with a very different ending. During Game 3 against Minnesota in 2024, Ionescu faced Kayla McBride with the score tied at 77. She created a sliver of separation, rose from 28 feet, and sank the winner with one second remaining. New York escaped 80–77.
The distance made the shot spectacular. It also explained the problem Ionescu posed.
A defender cannot protect every patch of floor equally. Crowding a shooter farther from the basket creates more room behind the defender. Giving ground protects against the drive but offers a player with Ionescu’s range permission to shoot.
McBride still contested. Ionescu made a difficult attempt. That distinction belongs in any honest discussion of half-court execution. Sometimes an offense produces a clean opening through coordinated movement. Other times, its best player creates just enough space and supplies the rest herself.
Game 3 delivered the second kind of finish. New York’s eventual championship required more than repeating it.
Going Bigger Inside
By Game 5, the ball kept finding iron.
Ionescu finished 1-for-19 from the field. Stewart shot 4-for-15. New York nevertheless won 67–62 in overtime, with Jones scoring 17 points. Those numbers should stop anyone from reducing championship offense to getting a star comfortable. Sometimes the star never finds her jumper.
Brondello responded by going bigger, using Sabally alongside Jones and Stewart, with Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich completing the group. Sabally supplied 13 points in 17 minutes, giving the Liberty another target near the basket. As Brondello explained afterward, she turned to the larger lineup to give New York a different look.
The adjustment changed the available passes. A ballhandler facing pressure could look toward another interior finisher rather than demanding a difficult shot from a struggling scorer. One third-quarter sequence captured that alternative: Ionescu found Sabally for a layup that put New York ahead 40–38. The scorer who could barely buy a basket still helped create one.
Beyond the Set
New York’s victory also included events that resist a tidy tactical explanation. A disputed foul call on Alanna Smith gave Stewart the late free throws that forced overtime. Fiebich then opened the extra period with a three, and Sabally added a steal and layup.
That layup came from defense and transition. It belongs in the story precisely because half-court execution cannot explain every decisive basket.
The stronger argument concerns survival when those opportunities do not appear. New York needed ways to keep scoring while its two leading perimeter creators struggled to finish. Jones and Sabally supplied another route.
Finding the Next Answer
The next close Finals finish will invite everyone to follow the ball. Watch the screener instead.
Does she roll into a passing lane or drift behind a defender? After a switch, does she establish position quickly enough for the guard to find her? When the first screen fails, can she turn and offer another?
Then check the corner.
A shooter who stays visible gives the ballhandler somewhere to escape. A teammate who slides behind a defender’s shoulder may disappear from the passer’s view at exactly the wrong moment. Small changes in position can determine whether a double-team produces an open attempt or a turnover.
For coaches, half-court execution means connecting those responsibilities before the timeout ends. The instruction cannot stop at getting Stewart the ball or asking Ionescu to attack. Everyone needs to recognize the defense’s response and know where the next opening should develop.
Players still have to make the shot. An excellent sequence can end with a miss, while a difficult jumper can rescue a broken play.
The challenge is giving the team another answer.
Las Vegas forced New York beyond its preferred scorer in 2023. A year later, the Liberty found championship contributions beyond their preferred shots.
When the lane closes, and the clock starts demanding a decision, who will make herself available next?
READ MORE: Why defending the weak-side action is deciding the WNBA Finals
FAQs
Why does half-court execution matter in the WNBA Finals?
Set defenses take away easy routes to the basket. Screens, spacing, and quick decisions help offenses create openings late in close games.
What is a re-screen in basketball?
A screener turns and sets another screen, often on the defender’s opposite side. That gives the ball handler a new driving angle.
How did Sabrina Ionescu win Game 3 of the 2024 Finals?
Ionescu made a 28-foot three-pointer with one second remaining. Her shot broke a 77–77 tie and gave New York the win.
How did Nyara Sabally help New York win Game 5?
Sabally scored 13 points in 17 minutes. She gave New York another interior target and added an overtime steal and layup.
What happened on New York’s final play in the 2023 Finals?
Las Vegas doubled Breanna Stewart, and the ball reached Courtney Vandersloot in the corner. Her attempt missed, sealing the Aces’ 70–69 victory.
