NEW YORK — Sabrina Ionescu’s final pass in the New York Liberty’s 91-82 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 2 wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular. In fact, it was less a chest pass than a celebration spike – an emphatic bounce of the basketball around the midcourt line after a 36-point, nine-assist masterpiece that lifted the top-seeded Liberty into the WNBA semifinals.
Ionescu opened the scoring Tuesday with a three-pointer on New York’s first possession and sealed the win with the final two free throws of the series. She also did plenty in between after saying the Liberty had no intention of traveling south for a decisive third game.
“We don’t want to go to Atlanta,” Ionescu said Tuesday morning. “That’s not something we want to do.”
New York needed to outscore Atlanta 26-18 in the fourth quarter to pull ahead and sweep the Dream 2-0. Ionescu expected Tuesday’s game to be tougher than Sunday’s first game, in which the Liberty never trailed and built a commanding 14-point lead. Her prediction proved correct, as the Dream played with a new sense of urgency.
“We have to throw some punches right from the start and make them understand it’s going to be a tough fight,” Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said Tuesday morning.
Dream All-Star guard Allisha Gray converted her first five shots and had beaten New York 14-13 with 2:18 minutes left in the first quarter. Atlanta’s nine-point first-quarter lead and five-point halftime lead were not enough, however. Gray’s 26 Points and Rhyne Howards 19 were ultimately in vain.
Sabrina Ionescu led the way against Atlanta, scoring 36 points to sweep the Dream in two games. pic.twitter.com/QCMzGEgwmx
— The Athlete (@TheAthletic) 25 September 2024
Ionescu made sure New York didn’t have to take a plane. While she scored 13 points and seven assists in the first half, she sparked the Liberty’s comeback in the second half, scoring 11 points in the third. At one point, she scored nine straight points for New York, turning a three-point deficit into a two-point Liberty lead. She celebrated by waving to the crowd, pointing to teammates when she set up a basket, and before a layup, she even gave a high-five to celebrated director Spike Lee, who was sitting courtside across from the Liberty bench.
Although Breanna Stewart did not score a point from the 6:17 mark of the second quarter to the 4:27 mark, In the fourth quarter, New York’s offense remained dangerous. Ionescu sank one three-pointer after another. She hit five in total. Jones made eight of their 12 shots and finished with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds, reaching double figures in both categories for the first time since August 22.
On Tuesday morning, Brondello reminded those in their locker room how they narrowly eked out a win over the No. 7 Washington Mystics in Game 2 of last year’s first round.
“I think for those who were here last year, this is a reminder,” Brondello said. “All the lessons we learned last year apply to this year as well.”
She specifically referenced the lessons learned from the overtime win over Washington, but Brondello could just as easily have pointed to what New York learned from the finals loss to the Las Vegas Aces. Those lessons will surely resurface soon.
New York awaits the winner of the Aces-Seattle Storm first-round series, which begins at 9:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The semifinals will open on Sunday.
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(Photo: Catalina Fragoso/Getty Images)
