The New York Liberty are headed back to the WNBA Finals, and a large share of the thanks has to go to Sabrina Ionescu, who bounced back from what could be the worst game of her career to lead the Liberty to a series-clinching 76-62 Game 4 victory.
We Have To Talk About THAT Game First
This “worst game of her career” came in Game 3, where Ionescu could only muster four points on 1-of-7 shooting. Furthermore, Ionescu had five turnovers, a +/- of -5, and didn’t record a single assist or rebound. At first, the Liberty weathered the storm without her. At the end of the first half, New York only trailed the Las Vegas Aces by three despite no points from Sabrina. It all unraveled in the third quarter, however, and by the end of it, the game was out of reach. Six points compared to Vegas’ 21, with no contribution from Sabrina, fated the Libs to a Game 4.
A lot of noise came about from this performance, but how would Sabrina respond to it?
It’s How You Bounce Back
In the history of the WNBA, only one team had overturned a 2-0 series deficit to force a Game 5.
The Las Vegas Aces would look to become the second team to do this, but it wouldn’t be easy. The Liberty and Ionescu in particular were personally disgusted with their performance in Game 3, and looked to rectify their off night on Sunday.
Sabrina began her masterful day by driving around a double team at the rim, kicking out to Leonie Fiebich who immediately gave it back to Ionescu. Ionescu would then show Jackie Young a quick flick of the wrist and bury a corner three.
Then, Sabrina drove inside on Tiffany Hayes, scoring on a floater with an and-one opportunity to boot. Completing that three-point play vaulted her past her entire Game 3 total, and she didn’t stop there. Off a Jonquel Jones screen, Ionescu spotted up for another three, which she canned. She would end another vintage Sabrina Ionescu first quarter by running past Tiffany Hayes again to sink her third three-pointer.
Ionescu cooled off over the next two quarters, only scoring three points. However, Breanna Stewart picked up where she left off, scoring 13 points in that same timeframe to help the Liberty maintain the lead going into the fourth. It’s here where Sabrina punched New York’s ticket back to the Finals.
First, she caught the unanimous MVP A’ja Wilson sleeping on a cut to the rim, leading to an easy bucket.
Next time down, Wilson spots an Ionescu drive and swats her shot away. On the ensuing inbound, however, Sabrina got space and skied in her fifth 3-pointer of the day. This gave the Liberty an 11-point lead, prompted a timeout, and sucked all life out of Michelob ULTRA Arena.
Two Jonquel Jones daggers and two free throws from Ionescu later, the Liberty had done it. They exorcised their demons and defeated the Las Vegas Aces to return to the WNBA Finals, which was spearheaded by the head of the snake, Sabrina Ionescu. Ionescu finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists. She shot 50% from the field and 62.5% from deep while adding two steals to her masterful final stat line.
Game 4 was just another day for Playoff Sabrina. She’s averaging 20/5/5 on 49/47/95 shooting splits, which has only been done once (Candace Parker, 2020).
The Liberty are now three wins away from a title and Ionescu continues to be the driving force behind their success.
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