Liberty defeated the Aces 88-84 to take a 2-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals and bring the champions to the brink

NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu and her New York teammates downplayed the fact that they were close to knocking out the Aces. In their opinion, they have not achieved anything yet.

Ionescu scored 24 points and the Liberty beat Las Vegas 88-84 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.

“Being 2-0 up is great, but we haven’t won anything yet,” Ionescu said. “Everyone knows that. We did what we were supposed to do: protect the home court. Win two at home. We don't pat ourselves on the back and talk about how lucky we are. We didn’t come here to win two home games and be happy, we are a hungry group.”

Game 3 takes place Friday night in Las Vegas, with the two-time defending champion Aces trying to avoid being beaten by the team they beat in the WNBA Finals last year.

“We protected the home court. We want to go to Vegas,” said Liberty coach Sandy Brondello. “We play well away from home and they play great at home.”

History is on New York's side.

No team in WNBA postseason history has overcome a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-five playoff series. Only Phoenix was able to force a Game 5 against Seattle in 2018.

“It's a series for a reason, there's no championship won by two wins,” Aces forward Alysha Clark said. “I have a lot of playoff experience where I was 2-0 up and 2-0 down. The series is not over yet.”

The game was tied at 81 before Ionescu hit a jumper with 1:15 left to give New York a two-point lead. Both teams had chances before Ionescu fouled Tiffany Hayes on a jump ball with 16.9 seconds left.

Hayes hit the first of two free throws to make the game one point. New York secured the rebound and Ionescu was fouled with 11.6 seconds left and also only made one free throw to make it 84-82.

Las Vegas had a chance to equalize, but the ball went out of bounds on the sideline with 10.5 minutes to play, and after New York challenged the claim that it was the Aces' ball, the referees overturned it decision and gave the ball to the Liberty.

Ionescu, who had seven of the Liberty's last nine points, then hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game.

“She comes forward in the big moments, doesn’t shy away from the moments,” Liberty center Jonquel Jones said.

A'ja Wilson answered with a jumper with 5.6 minutes left before Breanna Stewart hit two free throws less than a second later to secure the win.

“It was close, but they made more plays than we did,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said.

Hammon said after Game 1 that Tuesday's game was “give up or die.”

“Did I say winning is a must? I lied,” the coach said with a laugh after Tuesday’s game. “I’m trying to convey the drama.”

Stewart finished the game with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Wilson scored 24 points and Jackie Young added 17 for the Aces.

The Liberty led 69-62 early in the final period before the Aces rallied behind Wilson and tied the game at 81-1 on Clark's 3-pointer with 1:31 left.

After a rough start to Game 1, the Aces took a 27-22 lead after the first quarter behind a strong opening 10 minutes from Chelsea Gray. She had just four points in the Game 1 loss and Hammon said she would have a conversation with her star guard. Gray responded by aggressively scoring 10 points in the first 10 minutes.

The teams went back and forth and Las Vegas led 40-37 with 2:33 left in the half before Ionescu hit two 3-pointers after a three-point play from Kayla Thornton to give New York a 46-40 lead at halftime , which drew loud cheers from the sellout crowd that included Carmelo Anthony, Alicia Keys, Robin Roberts, Colin Kaepernick and Gayle King.

Liberty star Teresa Weatherspoon was also in the audience. She was fired as coach by the Chicago Sky last week. When she was shown on the video screen in the fourth quarter, she received a very loud ovation from the fans.

It's not just fans who come by to watch the series in person. Game 1 of the series drew an average television audience of 929,000. It was the most-watched WNBA semifinal in 22 years.

The Aces lost center Kiah Stokes with 9.5 seconds left in the third quarter. She chased a loose ball out of bounds and went down hard after committing a foul on a loose ball. She lay on the floor for a few minutes before she was helped back to the locker room. The team said she suffered a possible concussion.

“Right now it’s a head injury,” Hammon said. “We'll wait and see, I don't have much information for you. We will be watching them very closely.”

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