The Liberty know the disadvantage of being down a game in the WNBA Finals ahead of a must-win Game 2 on Wednesday night, especially against the Las Vegas Aces, a much more formidable threat than their semifinal foes, the Connecticut Sun.

It was written on the faces of Kayla Thornton and Betnijah Laney on Tuesday, and heard in their responses when faced with questions about the necessary adjustments, especially regarding the Liberty guards, after the 99-82 loss in Game 1.

Did the Liberty learn anything after losing the first semifinal game against the Sun that they can take into the finals series?

“What we’re capable of doing,” Thorton said.

What is the Liberty working on to make the Las Vegas guards feel less comfortable?

“Just being more aggressive and more disruptive,” Laney said.

It’s not lost on them that this may be the Liberty’s biggest game of the year, and the backcourt is the key.

Guards Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot will need to come alive for the Liberty to head back home for Game 3 on Sunday with any sense of security.

Coach Sandy Brondello, after the opener, described the matchup for her guards as “a little bit of a tough night.” To put it not as kindly, it was alarmingly ugly for both Ionescu and Vandersloot.

Ionescu made a single 3-pointer in five attempts and Vandersloot shot 4-for-11 from the field.

The pair combined for only 17 points.

They also lacked pressure on defense and the Aces’ power guards — Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young — took advantage to score 72 of Las Vegas’ points.

Brondello tried to treat the wound with Marine Johannes for a second time in the third quarter. She had tallied 14 points in 11 minutes during the first half, which included a one-legged 3-pointer that gave the Liberty a three-point lead at halftime.

The substitution didn’t yield the hoped-for results and Vandersloot never found her footing.

She also struggled in Game 4 of the semifinals against Connecticut’s defense, with just three points and six assists after being the league leader in assists per game (8.1) during the regular season.

In stealing minutes away from Vandersloot, Johannes may have cemented herself as a solution more often if her five-time All-Star teammate continues to struggle.

“Marine was phenomenal,” Plum said. “She came out and she was hitting 3s off one leg and fading to the left and to the right, and so in the second half, obviously, we had a lot more emphasis on her. I thought our bigs and guards collectively did a great job as a team. But she’s a tough player, like if you let her get going, there’s really not much you can do.”

In Game 2, the Liberty will need to make their open shots, especially from deep. They were the best 3-point shooting team in the regular season in attempts per game (29.7), percentage (37.4), and total makes (444), but have yet to find their range in the playoffs.

They have still shot more from beyond the arc than any other playoff team, at 26.7 per game, but are shooting at 33.2 percent, fifth among the playoff teams and would have placed them in 10th in the regular season.

Plum doesn’t believe that will continue.

“I expect the Liberty come in and just be a different team,” Plum said. “They have a ton of pride in that locker room and we’re gonna see a different team I feel like.”

If the Liberty fail to respond, it will be their first consecutive losses of the season and the Aces will be a game away from winning back-to-back titles. That would make them the first WNBA team to do so, and it would come at Barclays Center where the Liberty’s dreams of their first title would be pushed back another year.