New York Liberty push defending champion Las Vegas Aces to brink with Game 2 victory

NEW YORK — Rinse. Repeat — the New York Liberty are one victory away from redemption and a return trip to the WNBA Finals.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 24 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 1:15 left, leading four players in double figures as the Liberty pushed the Las Vegas Aces to the brink of elimination, taking a commanding 2-0 lead with an 88-84 victory in the best-of-five WNBA semifinals on Tuesday.

Game 3 is Friday night in Las Vegas.

The Liberty used a 15-4 second-quarter run and the same formula that earned them a 10-point victory in Game 1. They perfected it on Tuesday.

After New York built a 10-point third-quarter lead, the Aces began to chip away slowly and finally tied the score at 81 when Alysha Clark’s corner 3 hit nothing but nylon with 1:31 remaining. But Ionescu nailed the game-winning basket seconds later.

The Aces had a chance to tie the score, but the ball went out on the sideline with 10 seconds left. Initially ruled Aces ball, a Liberty challenge turned the ball over to them, leading Ionescu to hit two free throws to seal the win.

Still smarting from a four-game defeat in last year’s Finals, a familiar scenario played out in the Liberty’s fifth straight win over their rivals this season. Clutch shooting by Ionescu, untimely turnovers for Las Vegas, and defensive breakdowns that led to easy buckets allowed another sellout Barclays Center crowd — with plenty of celebrities in the stands — to get into the game.

“Being up 2-0 is great,” said Ionescu, who added nine rebounds, five assists and made at least three 3-pointers in her sixth straight game. “We haven’t won anything. We did what we were supposed to. This isn’t what we came to do. We are a hungry group. We battled, they came out swinging. We got big stops when we needed to.

“We don’t take them lightly, and we grinded out a good win.”

Brenna Stewart, who scored 34 points in Game 1, scored 15 points, with eight assists and seven rebounds. Jonquel Jones had 14 points, and Courtney Vandersloot scored 12 points off the bench.

The Aces shot out to an eight-point first-quarter lead, with Clark scoring eight of the team’s first 10 points. But there were signs of trouble brewing, starting when guard Kelsey Plum picked up her second foul just two minutes into the game. Plum scored only six points after leading the Aces in scoring with 24 in Game 1.

Three minutes into the second quarter, Liberty forward Kayla Thornton drove right around Plum for an easy layup. Aces head coach Becky Hammon immediately called timeout and gave her team an animated tongue-lashing on the bench.

Hammon left plenty of additional scorn for her players (and the officials) as the Aces allowed New York to shoot 55% en route to a 46-40 deficit, capped by two long 3-pointers from Ionescu. There were nine lead changes in the first half.

The Aces had no answer for New York’s inside game, allowing 44 points in the post, and their 13 turnovers led to 22 Liberty points.

League MVP A’ja Wilson had 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Las Vegas, which had five players in double figures. Jackie Young scored 17, Chelsea Gray added 14, and Tiffany Hayes had 10 off the bench.

The Aces have a tough hill to climb. There is no precedent for a WNBA team overcoming a 2-0 deficit in any best-of-five series. If they can win both games at home, they will become only the second team to even force a Game 5.

“We have neither lost or won a championship. Nothing has been won tonight,” Hammon said after the game, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.

“Let there be no doubt, we’re in for a war,” Hammon added.

The availability of Aces starting center Kiah Stokes is also unknown after she left in the third quarter with a concussion sustained while trying to chase down a loose ball. She stayed down on the court for a few minutes and did not return after being helped to the locker room.

This story was updated to add new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Liberty vs Aces: New York takes 2-0 lead, pushes Las Vegas to brink