New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu Red-Hot Start in WNBA Semifinals: Vengeance?

The New York Liberty won game one of the WNBA Semifinals over the Las Vegas Aces at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, 87-77. The vengeance tour is in full swing for Oregon Ducks' Sabrina Ionescu squad against Washington Huskies' Kelsey Plum which has been a clash of talent at the guard position.

Sep 29, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) reacts to a play against the Las Vegas Aces during game one of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Former Oregon Ducks star Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty are looking for some sweet revenge over the Las Vegas Aces who they lost to in the 2023 WNBA Finals.

In the convincing victory, Ionescu finished with 21 points on an efficient shooting display. Ionescu went 9-for-15 from the field and 3-for-6 on three-pointers. For those familiar with her game, she's much more than just a scoring threat as Ionescu does it all on the offensive end and does her share defensively. She contributed five assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block. That's the definition of a stat sheet stuffer.

This is the playoff matchup to watch right now due to the battle between two of the WNBA's best players in the backcourt, Ionescu and former Washington Huskies' guard Kelsey Plum. The force for the Aces scored 24 points on 9-for17 shooting and 2-for-4 three-pointers to go along with four rebounds and two assists. She was seen chirping back-and-forth with to one of the world's most famous movie directors and long-time New York Knicks' fan on the sideline, Spike Lee.

Sep 29, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) shoots a three point jump shot over Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) during game one of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

As for Ionescu, the former Duck and 2024 USA Olympic Gold Medalist led the the Liberty to a 32-8 regular season record and received the No.1 overall seed in the 2024 WNBA Playoffs as well as home-court advantage throughout their postseason run.

The Liberty started off the postseason with a sweep of the Atlanta Dream in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, 2-0. Ionescu had a more positive experience with the director of "He Got Game" on the sideline during the third quarter of game two against the Dream.

"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 like injected into my veins. At that moment, I was like, 'We're winning this.'"

- Sabrina Ionescu

Through her first three playoff games of this postseason, Ionescu has averaged an astonishing 24.7 points per game on a 53.1 field goal percentage and 45.8 three-point percentage. She also has put up 6.3 assists per game, 3.3 rebounds per game and 2.0 steals per game for New York.

It's not just all Ionescu, the Liberty have depth across the board. They have the 2018 and 2023 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones, 2021 WNBA All-Star Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and arguably the greatest point guard in WNBA history coming off the bench, Courtney Vandersloot. Given the great success she has had throughout her career, this veteran piece for New York adds even more championship pedigree and really puts this roster over the top. Ionescu has learned a lot from Vandersloot and looks even more comfortable running the offense in thanks to her wisdom.

Ionescu's Oregon counterpart Nyara Sabally has been a spark off the bench for the Liberty all season long, specifically around the rim. She hasn't been given a ton of run in the WNBA playoffs just yet but it's nice to have the luxury of just knowing a player of that caliber is available at all times.

The chase for a WNBA title continues for New York against Las Vegas in game two on Tuesday, Oct. 1 as the Liberty host the Aces at 4:30 p.m. PT. Thursday Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. PT will be game three in Las Vegas and, if necessary, game four on Sunday, Oct. 6 in the Sin City and game five on Tuesday, Oct. 8 back in New York.

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