Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart lead Liberty past the Aces in game one of the WNBA semifinals

NEW YORK — Sabrina Ionescu paused for a moment, checking her feet to make sure she was behind the 3-point line. She took a breath, then fired and drained a 3 to extend the New York Liberty's lead to 11 points.

As she raged backwards with just over seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter, she pointed directly at Spike Lee, who was sitting on the sidelines for the second straight game. This time he was wearing her jersey.

Last Tuesday, as New York swept the Atlanta Dream out of the postseason, Ionescu exchanged a high-five with Lee midway through the third quarter. She said at the time she felt like “New York had just been injected into my veins.”

Obviously, the strength she felt against the Dream carried over to Game 1 of the Liberty's semifinal series against the Las Vegas Aces.

Ionescu wasn't the only one to wow the Barclays Center crowd during New York's 87-77 win. In addition to Ionescu's 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart finished with a team-high 34 Points, five rebounds and four assists. Stewart's frontcourt partner Jonquel Jones added 13 points and 12 boards.

“We still remember what they did on our home court and we're coming out to prove them wrong and prove ourselves right,” Jones said Saturday.

There were no surprises as the Liberty and Aces completed their semifinal series. The rematch between last year's finalists – a series the Aces concluded in Brooklyn – featured six U.S. Olympians. Two teams with a lot of history and former teammates competed against each other.

“There are no tricks,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “(New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello) doesn’t have any magic plays. I don’t have any magic pieces.”

But Sunday's win in New York was more about the magic players than any moves. And no one was better than Stewart, who scored 20 points in the first half, passing Lisa Leslie to set the longest streak of double-digit performances in WNBA postseason history (35 games).

The Liberty hoped to set the tone in Game 1 with their physicality. They forced Aces star A'ja Wilson into a contested 3-point shot on Las Vegas' first possession and let their defense continue to dictate the flow of the game from there.

New York led by 10 at halftime, with its length disrupting Las Vegas' offense. In the first 20 minutes, the Aces shot just 30.8 percent from 3-point range and had six turnovers, more than half their season average.

Aces guard Chelsea Gray threw a bad pass from the locker room on the Aces' first possession, and less than five minutes later, New York's lead grew to 18. The spectators waved their white ball towels as both teams retreated to their benches.

Of course, Las Vegas never failed. Aces guard Kelsey Plum scored Las Vegas' first 12 points after halftime before Wilson got back on the scoresheet just over six minutes into the period. Wilson finished 21st points, while Plum scored 24 points. A 12-0 run cut New York's lead back to six. But Gray, pursued by New York rookie winger Leonie Fiebich, couldn't get a shot off at the end of the third quarter, and New York took a nine-point lead into the final frame.

The Aces cut the deficit to eight with 1:37 left stayed in the game but didn't get any closer. New York, which finished the regular season with the best record in the league, never trailed.

Of course, the best-of-5 series is far from over. New York will host Game 2 on Tuesday before the match moves back to Las Vegas. But as New York seeks its first title in franchise history, an initial statement has been made.

“We want to show how much we’ve grown,” Stewart said.

(Photo: David Dow/Getty Images)