Sabrina Ionescu’s Monster Game Led The Liberty To A Series-Clinching Game 2 Win Over Atlanta

The New York Liberty are on their way to the semifinals of the 2024 WNBA playoffs. New York played host to the Atlanta Dream in Game 2 of their first round series at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night, and thanks to an absolutely outrageous performance by Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty punched their ticket to the second round with a 91-82 win to secure a 2-0 sweep.

With their backs against the wall, Atlanta came out playing like a team that was desperate to stave off elimination. The team opened up the game on an 11-3 run, then spent the remainder of the frame keeping the Liberty at arm’s length.

No one was more responsible for the team’s hot start than Allisha Gray, as the guard took it to New York from the jump. Thanks to her 14 points on 4-for-4 shooting from three, Atlanta found itself up, 28-19, after one.

It did not take long for the Liberty to restore a bit of order to the proceedings. The league’s No. 1 overall seed came roaring out of the gates in the second quarter, and rode an 18-6 run to take the lead on an Ionescu three.

But the Dream did not let things get away from them. While New York got its lead up to four points, Atlanta closed out the quarter on a 12-3 run, with Jordin Canada and Tina Charles combining to score 10 of those points. By the time the buzzer went off for halftime, Atlanta took a 48-43 lead into the locker room as it tried to force a win-or-go-home Game 3 in its own building. Gray’s 14 points led all scorers, while Charles and Rhyne Howard both had 10. For New York, Ionescu led the way with 13, while Breanna Stewart had 11 points and Jonquel Jones had 10.

The third quarter was the Ionescu show, as she took over the game by scoring nine straight points to carry the Liberty. Ionescu scored 11 points in all during the third, which was half of her team’s points.

Between Ionescu getting hot and the Liberty holding the Dream to their lowest-scoring quarter of the game, New York was able to take a 65-64 lead into the fourth. And while things were tight early on in the fourth, the Liberty started to pull away. Whether it was Ionescu’s shooting or their ability to score in the paint, the team rode a 12-2 run to open up a double-digit lead. And try as they might, there was just nothing the Dream could do, as the Liberty were able to create enough of a cushion that they were not able to get within seven points down the stretch.

Ionescu led all scorers with 36 points on 12-for-23 shooting from the field and 5-for-11 shooting from three to go along with nine assists. Jones had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Stewart put up 13 points. Gray’s 26 points led the way for Atlanta, while Charles had 14 and Howard stuffed the stat sheet, going for 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals.

Now, New York will sit and wait to see what will happen in Tuesday night’s other game between the Las Vegas Aces and the Seattle Storm. Las Vegas won Game 1 in that series, and if they can defend their home court in Game 2, it’ll set up a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals, which the Aces won in four games.