Sabrina Ionescu’s Monster Sport Led The Liberty To Sport 2 Win

The New York Liberty are on their option to the semifinals of the 2024 WNBA playoffs. New York performed host to the Atlanta Dream in Sport 2 of their first spherical collection on the Barclays Middle on Tuesday night time, and because of a completely outrageous efficiency by Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty punched their ticket to the second spherical with a 91-82 win to safe a 2-0 sweep.

With their backs towards the wall, Atlanta got here out taking part in like a workforce that was determined to stave off elimination. The workforce opened up the sport on an 11-3 run, then spent the rest of the body maintaining the Liberty at arm’s size.

Nobody was extra chargeable for the workforce’s sizzling begin than Allisha Grey, because the guard took it to New York from the leap. Due to her 14 factors on 4-for-4 taking pictures from three, Atlanta discovered itself up, 28-19, after one.

It didn’t take lengthy for the Liberty to revive a little bit of order to the proceedings. The league’s No. 1 total seed got here roaring out of the gates within the second quarter, and rode an 18-6 run to take the lead on an Ionescu three.

However the Dream didn’t let issues get away from them. Whereas New York received its lead as much as 4 factors, Atlanta closed out the quarter on a 12-3 run, with Jordin Canada and Tina Charles combining to attain 10 of these factors. By the point the buzzer went off for halftime, Atlanta took a 48-43 lead into the locker room because it tried to power a win-or-go-home Sport 3 in its personal constructing. Grey’s 14 factors led all scorers, whereas Charles and Rhyne Howard each had 10. For New York, Ionescu led the way in which with 13, whereas Breanna Stewart had 11 factors and Jonquel Jones had 10.

The third quarter was the Ionescu present, as she took over the sport by scoring 9 straight factors to hold the Liberty. Ionescu scored 11 factors in all in the course of the third, which was half of her workforce’s factors.

Between Ionescu getting sizzling and the Liberty holding the Dream to their lowest-scoring quarter of the sport, New York was in a position to take a 65-64 lead into the fourth. And whereas issues have been tight early on within the fourth, the Liberty began to tug away. Whether or not it was Ionescu’s taking pictures or their capability to attain within the paint, the workforce rode a 12-2 run to open up a double-digit lead. And take a look at as they could, there was simply nothing the Dream may do, because the Liberty have been in a position to create sufficient of a cushion that they weren’t in a position to get inside seven factors down the stretch.

Ionescu led all scorers with 36 factors on 12-for-23 taking pictures from the sphere and 5-for-11 taking pictures from three to associate with 9 assists. Jones had a double-double with 20 factors and 13 rebounds, whereas Stewart put up 13 factors. Grey’s 26 factors led the way in which for Atlanta, whereas Charles had 14 and Howard stuffed the stat sheet, going for 19 factors, 5 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals.

Now, New York will sit and wait to see what is going to occur in Tuesday night time’s different recreation between the Las Vegas Aces and the Seattle Storm. Las Vegas gained Sport 1 in that collection, and if they’ll defend their house court docket in Sport 2, it’ll arrange a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals, which the Aces gained in 4 video games.