Sabrina Ionescu makes one of the greatest shots of all time, New York Liberty win Game 3 of WNBA Finals 80-77
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
It’s been a long, absurd road even just in this series. But the Liberty are one win away from glory. The New York Liberty should not have been in that position.
I don’t only mean being tied in a 1-1 series, giving the Minnesota Lynx an opportunity to close them out in their building; we’ve covered that extensively. They thoroughly outplayed the Lynx for all but five minutes over the WNBA Finals’ first two games, but hey, those five minutes were really important, and really, really bad for the Libs.
I mean — after Kayla McBride came off a screen and hit a very deep three after New York again failed to meet her at the level of the screen, causing Sandy Brondello to call timeout — trailing 60-50, late in the third.
Back in their building, Minnesota had thrown the first punch, as expected. McBride and Bridget Carleton came out on fire, hitting open shots and more often, contested ones...
Lynx might be getting the shooting game tonight from K- Mac and BC: pic.twitter.com/6TaHd6WixV— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) October 17, 2024
Minnesota is more than capable of a hot shooting stretch, particularly in their own building. That wasn’t the issue, nor being down 28-18 after the first quarter, though their eight turnovers in the period were a disappointing, self-inflicted wound.
The issue was, an hour later, New York was still trailing by ten. They had stopped turning the ball over, their defense had tightened up, they were rebounding the ball. All their “principles of play,” as Sandy Brondello often refers to them, were there. Once again, they were playing like the better team, but had little to show for it.
“I think that we were all kind of just waiting for our moment, waiting for for the script to flip a little bit,” said Breanna Stewart.
She’d continue: “I could feel it, you could feel the momentum was shifting to our side. They were up and their shots weren’t falling. We were getting good looks. And it’s like, if we’re going to be this close, we’re not leaving here without this win.”
That’s all good and well, and for a long while, it felt as if Stewie’s prophecy was going to come true...
“WE ARE NOT F****** LOSING THIS GAME” STEWIE IS LOCKED IN. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/Lp9Up2zvyD— Tyler DeLuca (@TylerDeLuca) October 17, 2024
...but the Liberty needed to make some damn shots. Brondello called the timeout as her team stood at 4-of-15 from three, though their looks were cleaner than the 26-foot leaning bombs McBride (5-of-9 from deep, 19 points) was pouring in.
Courtney Vandersloot, who teamed up with surprise-hero Nyara Sabally to provide crucial bench minutes in the first half, didn’t feel like her side was getting outplayed: “It felt like more like they were making a lot of shots. Yeah, we were missing, our offense wasn’t flowing well, but they were making big shots. And I think that that — yes, we got to do something to change that — but at the same time, I think that we stayed persistent.”
But Sloot and Sabally answered their calls. They provided a spark. Persistence would come in the form of the big dawgs, namely with Breanna Stewart, whose list of team and individual awards is longer than a sleepless night.
And again.
Stewie had scored seven straight points for New York when Courtney Williams rose up for a jumper to put Minnesota ahead by three. So she came back and walked down an injured Alanna Smith for a pull-up trey. McBride immediately responded with a three, so Stewie took the damn ball, found Smith, and pulled up. Foul on the play. And-1...
Breanna Stewart has New York's last 13 points. It's going down: pic.twitter.com/sfW8ZyIYG6— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) October 17, 2024
“I was motivated. I was mad. And I liked the matchups I had.”
Why were you mad?
“I was mad we were losing.”
An enraged Breanna Stewart is a scary sight, as a record-setting Target Center crowd of 19,521 found out. But she’d need some help on offense. Jonquel Jones had made some nice plays, but the Libs went away from her entirely once Stewie starting cooking. Sabrina Ionescu had opportunities by nature of her status as primary ball-handler, but she was busy committing turnovers and taking bad shots early in the fourth.
Stewie continued to dominate, single-handedly saving defensive possessions, and perhaps the Liberty’s season...
Breanna Stewart is saving the game for New York with these blocks right now. An all-time performance occurring: pic.twitter.com/A8vvqs8PLA— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) October 17, 2024
30 points, 11 boards, four blocks. It should go on a plaque someday.
“Just a dawg. Man, she carried us. She carried us. I felt like everything she shot was going in, and she was just super, super clutch,” said Jonquel Jones, who eventually lightened the load on Stewie’s back.
Down by four points, it truly felt for the first time that the Libs would go down 2-1. Jones hadn’t touched the ball since halftime, it seemed. And yet, she rose up to hit a contested three. 73-72 Lynx, two minutes left.
“That shot changed things for them,” said Cheryl Reeve.
Then Ionescu, who had been worse than a non-factor in the fourth, found Jones on the roll for an open layup, giving New York a crowd-deflating lead. Another stop on the other end, punctuated by a heaven-sent rebound from Stewie within.
Then Ionescu, who had three made shots and three turnovers to that point, dribbled around a screen, saw Napheesa Collier arrive a split-second late on a switch, and launched a 26-foot swish to give New York a four-point lead. It felt like the shot of her career, except the Lynx then went bucket, stop, bucket, to tie the game.
So, on the next possession, Ionescu hit the actual shot of her career, shifting McBride and finally, justifiably, cracking Ryan Ruocco’s voice...
SABRINA IONESCU pic.twitter.com/66gLQPcVCt— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 17, 2024
Now, watch it in slow-motion...
Slo-Mo of Sabrina’s legendary logo 3 x Father Stretch My Hands is incredible !! https://t.co/lIR6bV0rJX pic.twitter.com/EHV3rTlxKO— Chris Williamson (@CWilliamson44) October 17, 2024
“It’s not a Hail Mary, hope-this-goes-in. It was like, once I got it off, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is in.’”
Reeve had a reset timeout, called it, and watched as her team trudged up the floor to fail in getting a shot off. Ball game over. Liberty win. The pain of Game 1 hadn’t been erased, but transferred to nineteen-thousand silent Minnesotans trudging to the exits.
“That was just a great All-WNBA Second Team performance. That’s it,” smirked Ionescu, who indeed made the lesser of the All-W Teams earlier that day.
But I have a feeling she’ll take it if it means the win. All the Liberty will. Leonie Fiebich was asked — after she exited but returned late in the fourth quarter after running into another hard screen — if she was good.
“Yeah. We got a win. One more to go, right?”
As if we could ever forget it.
Trio of Libs named to All-WNBA Teams
To be fair, Ionescu was asked directly about making the All-WNBA Second Team. I’m sure, though, that she appreciated the opportunity to get a joke in.
“I mean, I think Sabrina should have been first team,” said Sandy Brondello earlier in the day.
However, she acknowledged the surfeit of great players in the league, and concluded that “it’s always hard to make those decisions there, but I’m happy. Got three players there. That’s awesome.”
And she should be. Ionescu joined Jonquel Jones on Second Team, while Breanna Stewart fell two votes shy of being a unanimous First Team selection. (Brondello did laughingly — but not jokingly — called those two anonymous voters some names.)
BIG ups to the crew on earning All-WNBA First & Second Team honors #SEAFOAMSZN | #LIGHTITUPNYL pic.twitter.com/i5EkJOtxh4— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) October 16, 2024
Five of the other six teams in WNBA history to land three players on the All-League went on to win the title that season. Now, the Liberty are one win away from making it six-of-seven.
Next Up
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
Closeout game. Friday night at 8:00 p.m. ET. For the championship and the first pro sports parade in Brooklyn since the Dodgers in 1955.
Box Score: New York Liberty 80, Minnesota Lynx 77 - WNBA
Game Highlights: New York Liberty 80, Minnesota Lynx 77 (Video) - WNBA
Ionescu’s 3-pointer with 1 second left gives Liberty 80-77 win over Lynx and 2-1 lead in WNBA Finals - Doug Feinberg - AP
Minnesota can’t finish off New York and now must find way to win two straight games for 5th title - Doug Feinberg - AP
Sabrina Ionescu secures Liberty Game 3 win vs. Lynx in WNBA Finals - Michael Voepel - ESPN
Breanna Stewart puts Liberty on brink of first WNBA title - Alexa Philippou - ESPN
New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones chases an elusive WNBA title - Sean Hurd - Andscape
Sabrina Ionescu hit the ‘biggest shot of my career,’ but the Liberty star isn’t done yet ($) - Ben Pickman - The Athletic
The Lynx found solutions, but the Liberty have more answers in WNBA title quest ($) - Sabreena Merchant - The Athletic
Sabrina Ionescu hit a game-winner for the ages. Now the Liberty are on the cusp of history ($) - Jared Schwartz - New York Post
Kevin Durant calls Sabrina Ionescu ‘cold blooded killer’ after wild Liberty game-winner - Christian Arnold - New York Post
Breanna Stewart’s torrid second half was spark Liberty desperately needed - Bridget Reilly - New York Post
Sabrina Ionescu’s game-winner lifts Liberty to 2-1 WNBA Finals lead over Lynx ($) - Kristian Winfield - New York Daily News
Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones earn All-WNBA honors ($) - Kristian Winfield - New York Daily News
Liberty on verge of their first WNBA title as Sabrina Ionescu seals Game 3 win over Lynx with deep three in closing seconds ($) - Barbara Barker - Newsday
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