Sabrina Ionescu on Tuesday became the first player in WNBA playoffs history to log a stat line of 36 points, nine assists and five 3PM in Liberty’s 91-82 win over Dream. The sharpshooting guard also came away with three steals, including a pair of crucial defensive plays in the third quarter that helped New York seize the lead in a neck-and-neck game through the first two quarters.
Ionescu’s massive second half saw her pour in 21 points, including two momentum-swinging threes in the fourth quarter and four clutch free throws to ice the game.
So, what exactly propelled Ionescu to her historic night? In her post-game news conference , Ionescu revealed that a “high five” from Spike Lee in the third quarter gave her superwoman-esque powers.
“Spike Lee gave me a high five as I was going to take the ball out of bounds, and I felt like New York was just injected into my veins,” Ionescu said. “At that moment, I was like, ‘We’re winning this.’ It was just injected and came all the way through [my arms].”
Ionescu revealed Lee kept egging her on throughout the game, but a high five from him during a critical juncture in a close contest gave her the ultimate motivation to power the team to a win.
With the win, Liberty set up a second-round clash against the defending champion Aces, the team they lost to in the 2023 WNBA Finals. As the rematch gets underway later this week, many analysts feel Ionescu’s red-hot form could be the X factor that tilts the series in favor of New York.
Ionescu is also a much-improved player from last year’s Finals when she attempted just 9.5 shots per game in the four-game series versus the Aces. This season, she has the ultimate green light from coach Sandy Brondello, as evidenced by her attempting a whopping 18 threes in two games of the first round.
