Liberty 90, Mystics 75: One down, seven to go

Sparked by a record-setting Sabrina Ionescu 3-point barrage, the Liberty rode a strong second half to a Game 1 win over the Mystics

As Game 1 of the New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics playoff series unfolded, the action was hard-fought. It was tense. It was messy. 

“The beginning of that first quarter, we were turning the ball over too much,” Sabrina Ionescu, the night’s eventual and ultimate phenom, said afterwards. The Mystics led 29-23 after the first, a quarter that ended with the Liberty subbing in Stefanie Dolson for Jonquel Jones. Tensions were high after Jones was called for an offensive foul against Brittney Sykes. There was discussion that Sabrina may have gotten charged with a technical foul for disagreeing with the refs.

Breanna Stewart was scoreless in the opening frame, though contributed in other ways; Betnijah Laney picked up the slack with 10 early, including a couple threes. The atmosphere was palpable, the fans waving towels, uproarious. When Stewart went to the line for her first points early in the second, MVP chants flooded in Barclays was Barclay-ing. A(nother) Thornton steal nearly ended with her going into the broadcasters table. KT was doing exactly what her teammates have praised her for all season: running the floor well, playing defense against the best of them, and keeping the ball moving. 

The Liberty were still trailing when Courtney Vandersloot checked back in and turned it over. Sykes took it coast to coast and dished to Tianna Hawkins to up Washington’s lead. Sykes, the same player who scored the game-winner in the teams’ season finale, feels at home in Barclays, having grown up in Newark and dominated at Syracuse. It shows. When she guards Defensive Player of the Year candidate Laney,  #44 gets a taste of her own medicine. 

How about the Liberty player I mentioned earlier, the eventual star of the night? We finally heard from Sab from deep when she put New York up 40-39 with two minutes to play in the half. She thought she got fouled on the other end, missed a shot, got her own rebound, missed a three, then was whistled for a foul trying to get the ball back. She proceeded to just hand the ball nicely to the ref.  

One of the loudest moments of the first quarter came when Stewie stuffed Elena Delle Donne. The loudest was after a Laney put-back putting the Liberty up four as the half expired. After the break, the Liberty were more finely fine-tuned; things didn’t seem so out of rhythm. Stewie blocked yet another shot, Jones came out firing, Laney scored the first bucket of the second half and Sab and Sloot took turns racking up assists, their synergy evident when Sloot got Sab’s offensive rebound off a 3-point attempt. We love to see this selfless ball from both the assist leader and a generational talent. 

With Laney, Jones and Ionescu all already in double-figures by the third, Stewie crept her way there with some baskets down low and another trip to the line. The MVP chants again resounded, and Stewie found her way to 10 points despite at times being triple-teamed. That gave her teammates more space and time to shine. Sloot found Sab with 30 seconds to go in the third, putting the Liberty up 10. 

This wasn’t a win-or-go-home game; in fact, it was a next-game’s-at-home-no-matter-what game. If the Liberty lose that one, they’re on the road for Game 3, thanks to the WNBA’s weird setup that gives the lower seed the homecourt advamtage should the series go the distance. The hungriest will eat. The hungriest will win. Laney was all over the floor throughout the game, defending, driving, pushing the pace. Ionescu, even with the hungry, hometown, harrassing, Sykes defending her, was able to open things up for herself when Hines-Allen ended up on her, draining a three. She sunk her fifth three of the night with just under seven minutes to play, tying a Liberty playoff record set by Vickie Johnson and Cappie Pointdexter. The game was over; all that was left was whether history would be made. With 30 seconds left, it was: Ionescu hit from 30 feet out to set the record.

“Having other great players around me has elevated that part of my game,” Sab said afterward about her growth from beyond the arc. “[I’ve] put a lot of working into being able to rely on my 3-point shot.” 

If the Liberty win Game 2 Tuesday, they’re on to the next round. They don’t want to let the Mystics get off to a good start again; Jones listed “playing a better first half and defensively” as how New York will look to open and close out the next game, and the series. If they fall behind early, they could find themselves headed to the nation’s capital for a winner-take-all finale.