It was a nailbiter, but the New York Liberty pulled through once again on home soil, 88-84.
The 2023 runner-ups have a chance to exorcise the demons of last year’s crushing Finals defeat in the same fashion they came to be: finishing the job on enemy soil.
But to look forward, we must look back. Let’s talk about Game 2, and what eventually propelled the Liberty to victory Tuesday night.
Beautiful Bench Production
Last year, a big factor in the Liberty’s Finals demise was their depth… or lack thereof.
Over the offseason, GM Johnathan Kolb quickly rectified this, adding pieces such as Leonie Fiebich, Kennedy Burke, and Ivana Dojkić to bolster up their roster. On Tuesday, however, it would be two veterans from previous Liberty go-arounds making the difference coming off the bench. Kayla Thornton and Courtney Vandersloot combined for a crucial 21 points in 36 combined minutes, with Vandersloot adding 4 assists and a huge block that kept 2 points off the board.
Vandersloot, one of the greatest guards in the history of the WNBA, was asked to come off the bench to begin the postseason in favor of Fiebich. The 13-year vet has handled it phenomenally, giving the Liberty great minutes off the bench in every game thus far.
Meanwhile, Thornton has been a mainstay off the bench all season, coming in to play phenomenal defense and get timely buckets like this one that put the Liberty up 3 late in the 1st half.
The Liberty bench has done a complete flip from a year ago, and it has them one game closer to exactly where they want to be.
Sabrina Ionescu: Known Playoff Riser
Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.
Sabrina Ionescu is averaging 24.5 PPG, 6 APG, and shooting 42.4% from 3 in this postseason through four games. The “head of the snake”, as Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon called her, has had the best playoff run of her career—and it isn’t even over! Game 2 was just another day in the life of Playoff Sabrina, putting up 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists on 5/11 shooting and 3/7 from three. She also played some outstanding defense, putting a steal and a block on her stat sheet.
In Game 2 against the Dream, Sabrina had an 11-point 3rd quarter consisting of drives to the basket and mid-range game. On Tuesday, she replicated this in the 4th quarter, scoring 11 points in the same manner. Every shot that the Liberty needed from Ionescu went down. The Aces, as champions do, didn’t go down without a fight. With 1:45 to go and the Aces within one, Sabrina drove to the basket and scored to put New York back up 3.
3o seconds later, Alysha Clark drilled a right-corner 3 to tie the game at 81. However, no panic seeped into Sabrina’s system, as she would respond with a cold-blooded mid-range to retake the lead.
Sabrina was then asked to ice it on the foul line, and she answered the call, sinking 3-4 free throws to put the Aces away for good.
Ionescu has come out firing in this postseason, arguably being the Liberty’s best performer so far. A continuation of said performance, and the Liberty will have a very good chance of doing what they set out to do 27 years ago: put a championship banner in their home stadium.
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