Sabrina Ionescu's 36 points help Liberty sweep past Atlanta to take first-round series

Sandy Brondello wanted the Liberty to have a flashback. Their coach wanted them to remember last September.

The second-seeded Liberty won by 15 in Game 1 of the 2023 best-of-three opening round against No. 7 Washington at Barclays Center, then struggled to shake the Mystics in Game 2 and were possibly facing a win-or-season-over Game 3 in D.C. The Liberty managed to force OT and survived by five to finish the sweep.

Now let’s return to 2024: The top-seeded Liberty won by 14 in Game 1 Sunday against No. 8 Atlanta at Barclays and had a chance to end this in Game 2 at home Tuesday night and avoid a nerve-racking season-on-the-brink game at Atlanta. So Brondello reminded her players about last year. Her basic message? You can’t relax.

The Dream provided the same message, dropping the Liberty in an 11-point hole early in the second quarter and putting forth a much better effort overall.

But the Liberty climbed out of the hole and finally pulled free in the fourth, finishing the sweep with a 91-82 win behind Sabrina Ionescu’s franchise postseason record-tying 36 points, including 23 in the second half.

“Your goal is to win a championship, but you’ve got to win these two,” said Ionescu, who matched Cappie Pondexter’s scoring mark and added nine assists. “I think it’s understanding how important these games were because you drop one at home and then you’ve got to go on the road.”

They get to start the semis at home.

The degree of difficulty now shoots skyward, though. The Liberty have to face two-time defending champ Las Vegas with three-time MVP A’ja Wilson in the best-of-five semis. It’s a rematch of the 2023 Finals that went to the Aces in four. They had the home-court advantage.

Vegas finished its home sweep of Seattle on Tuesday night with an 83-76 win. The Liberty swept three games from the Aces during the regular season, but Wilson was injured and didn’t play in the third game, their 75-71 loss on Sept. 8 at Barclays.

The series begins Sunday. Game 2 is also in Brooklyn next Tuesday.

“I think this game has prepared us for the next round,” Brondello said. “Atlanta played really good ball.”

But the Dream didn’t have Ionescu on their side.

“She can change the game in so many different ways,” Jonquel Jones said after complementing Ionescu with a huge double-double — 20 points, 13 rebounds.

Atlanta, which struggled through an injury-riddled 15-25 season, got great games from Allisha Gray, who scored 26 points, and Rhyne Howard, who added 19.

So the Liberty led just 73-72 with six minutes left. Then came the run, a 12-4 burst by the home team.

Jones found Courtney Vandersloot for a layup, then followed with her own layup off an offensive rebound. Howard then made a layup for Atlanta.

But Breanna Stewart tipped in a miss and Leonie Fiebich delivered a three-point play. Fiebich followed by swishing a three from 26 feet.

The Liberty were up 85-74 with 3:37 remaining. The Dream could only get it down to seven from there.

“I don’t think it was anything they did different,” Howard said. “That’s the No. 1 team. They’re going to do some things … But I thought we fought pretty hard.”

After trailing by five at halftime, the Liberty fell behind 55-47 in the third after five straight points by Howard. Then Ionescu scored five and Fiebich nailed a three in an 8-0 run. It was tied just like that.

Ionescu kept scoring — driving scoop, 21-foot jumper, short bank. She scored 11 in the quarter, and the Liberty headed for the fourth clinging to a 65-64 edge.

“Honestly, it’s just doing whatever it takes to win,” Ionescu said.

Atlanta had looked like a different team right from the start, jumping in front 11-3, causing Brondello to call for time.

The lead was still nine after one at 28-19 and Gray had 14. The Liberty passed the Dream briefly in the second quarter, but were behind 48-43 at the intermission. Then Ionescu made a statement out there.

“It’s us versus us,” Ionescu said about what’s next. “We understand what we have to do.”