Ionescu has big fourth quarter as Liberty beat short-handed Aces 75-71

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty have been saying all season long that they are a new team this year. On Sunday they showed it.

Facing a Las Vegas squad that was missing star A’ja Wilson, the Liberty blew a 20-point lead, but still found a way to win. Last year, they might not have been able to recover down the stretch to pull off the victory.

Sabrina Ionescu scored seven of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help the Liberty to the 75-71 win on Sunday.

“We just stay composed,” Ionescu said. “We took great shots when we needed to, get the ball in the right people’s hands. Fought for every ball and got stops when we needed to. Obviously it wasn’t a pretty win, but you got to be able to win ugly.”

The Aces were playing without Wilson, who was sidelined with a right ankle injury she suffered on Friday against Connecticut. Wilson was in a walking boot. It was the first game she had missed since Aug. 3, 2019.

The Liberty remained three games in front of Minnesota for the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs. New York has five games left to play. With the loss, Las Vegas remained in the fourth spot, one game in front of Seattle.

Breanna Stewart scored 21 points and had a big block late to lead New York (29-6).

“We’re happy that we’re going away with the win, but we were up 20 at one point,” Stewart said. “Make sure whenever you’re on the court, you have a purpose. And this is the defending champs. Whether A’ja is on the court or not, they’re trying to win.”

Las Vegas almost stunned New York. Trailing by 20, the Aces scored 18 of the next 19 to get within 64-61. The Liberty went without a point from the 1:39 mark of the third quarter until Ionescu hit a layup with 4:53 left in the fourth. The Aces kept coming and tied the game at 68 on Kelsey Plum‘s 3-pointer with 2:36 left.

Ionescu answered with a corner jumper. Sydney Colson‘s 3-pointer with 1:54 left gave the Aces their first lead since the first quarter.

Neither team scored until Ionescu hit a pull-up jumper with 43.6 seconds left that gave New York a 72-71 advantage. Plum, who finished with 25 points, had a chance to give the Aces the lead back, but her layup fell off the rim with 28 seconds left.

Ionescu was then fouled and hit one of two free throws to make it 73-71.

Las Vegas had one last chance but Stewart blocked Jackie Young‘s drive down the lane. Jonquel Jones sealed the win with two free throws with 2.5 seconds left.

“It wasn’t a typical fourth quarter for us, you know in terms of ball movement and executing,” Ionescu said. “It felt like there was a bit of a lid on the hoop, but I think our ability to kind of stay composed, understanding it was a long game (helped).”

This was the first meeting in New York between the teams since Las Vegas won the WNBA championship last year at Barclays Center. The Liberty won the first two meetings between the teams in Las Vegas earlier this year.

New York lost guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton early in the fourth quarter when she collided with Jones on the offensive end. Laney-Hamilton, who just was returning from right knee surgery, was down for a bit before being helped off the court.

Coach Sandy Brondello didn’t have an immediate update after the game.

Without their star, the Aces (22-13) turned to more of a perimeter game, hitting six of their first seven 3-point attempts to take a 22-14 lead on New York early in the first quarter.

Then the Liberty took over, going on a 31-11 run the rest of the half to take a 12-point lead at the break. Stewart had 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half for New York.

The lead ballooned to 63-43 late in the third quarter as Aces coach Becky Hammon emptied her bench and Las Vegas started its rally.

“Our bench coming in, the ball moved and good things happened,” Hammon said. “They got stops, gave us a chance to crawl back in there, stick our nose in where they didn’t think it was going to be today.”

The finals rematch brought out the stars as Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Dawn Staley, Jordan Chiles and Paige Bueckers were all in attendance.

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