Liberty defeated the Aces in the thriller and moved closer to winning a return to the WNBA Finals

No team in WNBA history has ever come back from an 0-2 hole in a five-game playoff series, and the Liberty certainly understood the task on Tuesday night.

They also understand that they still have a long way to go.

The league’s No. 1 seed held serve on his home court and took a 2-0 lead in this semifinal series to avenge last year’s WNBA Finals loss to arch-enemy Aces with a thrilling 88-84 game 2 victory over its rivals at Barclays Center.

“Being 2-0 up is great, but we haven’t won anything yet. I think everyone knows that,” Sabrina Ionescu said of an impending series move to Las Vegas for Game 3 on Friday. “We did what we were supposed to do, which was to defend the home game and get two home wins.

“But it’s not like we’re patting ourselves on the back and celebrating and talking about how lucky we are. That’s not what we came for.”

Leading scorer Breanna Stewart allowed just 15 points after scoring 34 points in the opening game, but added a season-high eight assists and two game-winning free throws in the final seconds.

Ionescu overcame a slow shooting start to finish with a team-best 24 points, while Jonquel Jones added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Former starter Courtney Vandersloot scored 12 points off the bench for the Liberty, who scored a total of 22 points on 13 turnovers by the Aces.

“It was extremely intense. It’s a team that’s aiming for a championship. We both are,” Jones said. “It’s playoff basketball. It’s physical and tiring.”

Aces star and league MVP A’ja Wilson scored just six points in the first half before matching a team-best 24. Jackie Young scored 17 and Chelsea Gray 14 for Las Vegas, but Kelsey Plum was 2-4 with six points. for 9 shooting.

“Tonight it was Aces vs. Aces,” said Vegas coach Becky Hammon, the former Liberty star from 1999 to 2006. “We beat ourselves.”

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello previously admitted that she was unaware of the statistical history of the WNBA teams that have overcome an 0-2 gap in the series, but emphasized that she was only worried about Tuesday night’s win .

“It would be nice to go to Vegas as a couple,” she said.

The opposite, of course, happened a year ago when the Liberty lost the first two games of the finals in Las Vegas before losing the championship series in four games.

In the first quarter of Game 2, Plum picked up two quick fouls and Wilson scored just two points, but the Aces still led 27-22 by one while Alysha Clark scored eight points.

The Libs turned up the intensity defensively, forcing two early turnovers in the second half – out of the Aces’ 11 turnovers in the half – which led to layups from Jones and Kayla Thornton after assists from Stewart, making it a one-score game.

Tiffany Hayes scored six straight points for the Aces on their eighth or ninth lead change of the half. The final score came on Ionescu’s first two three-pointers, which wrapped around a three-point play by Jones, as the Liberty led 46-40 at the break.

Stewart registered two assists and a layup early in the third to increase the lead to 10.

The Aces cut their number to four on two 3-pointers from Young, but Vandersloot added a key blocked shot on Young and sank a three-pointer from the left side to give the Liberty a seven-point lead entering the final quarter .

However, the Aces pulled to within three points with five consecutive points from Wilson to open the fourth, and they finally tied it on a Clark corner with 1:31 left.

After Ionescu reclaimed the lead with a 15-foot jumper, Hayes missed one of two free throws with 16.2 seconds left.

Ionescu also made 1 of 2 for an 84-82 lead, and she sank two more with 8.2 ticks on the clock after a Brondello challenge by Gray at the other end was ruled a turnover.

“It got a little stressful there, but I trust that we can keep our composure in those moments and make appropriate plays,” Brondello said afterwards. “Sabrina was tremendous all the way. … Now we’re heading out and getting locked up.”