WNBA playoffs: Sabrina Ionescu’s blossoming all-around game powers Liberty to semifinals

Sabrina Ionescu draws a foul and takes a few dribbles before tossing up a one-footed 3-pointer. It won’t count, but of course, the shot goes in.

It was that kind of night for Ionescu.

And as the ball falls through the net, a broadcast microphone picks up a fervent fan.

“I love you Sab!” the fan screams.

It was that kind of night for Liberty fans, too. The kind of night where they had plenty to thank Ionescu for. The guard went off for 36 points, tying Cappie Pondexter’s Liberty postseason record and propelling New York to a 91-82 victory over Atlanta to secure a spot in the semifinals.

Ionescu also had 9 assists, 3 steals and just 2 turnovers.

“I’m just doing whatever it takes to win,” Ionescu said. “Understanding that I’m capable of scoring, but knowing that getting my teammates open and getting them good looks is a huge part of what I do.”

The Liberty needed every bit of Ionescu’s all-around performance to get past the Dream, as well as a 20-point, 13-rebound effort from Jonquel Jones, and 13 points from Breanna Stewart.

The Dream were pesky, especially in the first half, when they led by as many as 11 points. Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello asked her team for urgency, not wanting to go to Atlanta for Game 3, and led by Ionescu, the Liberty answered.

New York outscored Atlanta 48-34 in the second half.

“We want to be going into the next round playing well, and I think this game really prepared us,” Brondello said. “Atlanta played great ball. That was probably one of the best games they’ve played all season. We had to work for everything we got.”

With 2:22 left in the fourth quarter, Ionescu drove to the hoop, finding a lane between defenders and pulling up for a runner. Ionescu contorted her body and found the perfect angle, floating the ball off the backboard and giving her team an 87-78 lead.

Ionescu cemented herself as a 3-point shooter last season, making 44.8% of her attempts and winning the WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest by making all but two shots. But this season, it’s Ionescu’s play inside the arc that’s been special. In 2023, she made 38% of her 2-point attempts, a number that’s risen to 46% this season.

​​”I think Sab is somebody who you can tell has put in work to get better,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said. “She’s done an amazing job. Not just taking 3s, but being somebody who is a three-level scorer, at the rim, in the midrange as well as beyond the arc.”

Against Atlanta, Ionescu scored 21 of her 36 points either at the rim, in the midrange or at the free-throw line, where she went 7-of-7. In the second half, Ionescu’s intention of getting to the rim was heightened. She scored 23 of her points in the half and only took two 3-pointers during the third and fourth quarters.

“My focus was getting downhill, getting some easy ones,” she said. “We were getting stops defensively and we were running. At the end of the second quarter we got a little 3-point happy. … That was kind of the point where I was like, ‘I’ve got to get into the paint.’”

Ionescu’s decision sparked a Liberty comeback, and her team went from being down five to start the third quarter to leading by one heading into the final frame.

There was a time when Ionescu may have kept shooting ill-advised 3-pointers. In 2023, 62.6% of her offense came from long range, while this season that number is down to 46.5%. Her decision-making and ability to score off the bounce are among the many improvements Ionescu made during the offseason.

“She’s taking what the defense gives her,” Jones said. “She can impact the game in so many different ways. It’s about playing the game and trusting your teammates, and she does a great job of that. It opens everything up for us, because the defense doesn’t really know what to do.”

And even though a deep 3-pointer has ignited crowds in the past, this time, it was Ionescu’s overall impact that kept the Liberty faithful engaged. During the third quarter, when Ionescu didn’t even attempt a shot from long range, she got a lift from one of New York’s most famous sports fans.

As she approached the sideline for an inbounds play, Spike Lee extended his hand for a high-five.

“I felt like all of New York was just injected into me,” Ionescu said with a laugh. “And at that moment I was like, ‘We are winning this game.’”