Liberty Avoid Nightmare in Atlanta Behind 37 from Ionescu

The New York Liberty once again made things far more interesting than they had to be, but a dominant evening from Sabrina Ionescu got them back in the win column.

Flirting with a disastrous brand of history on Friday night against the Atlanta Dream, the New York Liberty got by with downright peachy antics from Sabrina Ionescu.

The homegrown face of the new-look Liberty re-joined team history at Gateway Center Arena, handling the offensive burden in a 106-83 victory. Ionescu set a new career-best with 37 points (her previous high of 33 set during her abbreviated rookie year in 2020) on 10-of-18 shooting, which included an 8-of-13 output from three-point range. 

Those eight triples set a new Liberty franchise record, breaking a seven-way tie she shared with Nicole Powell, Crystal Robinson, Sugar Rodgers, Erin Thorn, Sami Whitcomb, and Amanda Zauhi B.

The Liberty (5-2) got back in the win column after a 19-point lead on Sunday against Chicago became a four-point loss. A brutal form of deja vu crept into Friday's game after a 22-point halftime advantage was quickly sliced to seven shortly after the midway mark of the third period. But the re-entry of defensive expert Kayla Thornton (plus-19 in 16 minutes of action) allowed New York to end the frame on an 8-0 run, setting the tone for the rest of the contest.

Assisted by a 23-point outing from Breanna Stewart, Ionescu's showcase carried over to the fourth, as an 18-7 run over the first 4:30 woke Atlanta (2-4) up from any dreams of a comeback. Alisha Gray led the Dream with 17 points while Rhyne Howard set her own brand of history from deep: Friday saw the top pick of the 2022 draft sink her 100th three-pointer, becoming the fastest in league history to get to the century mark (40 games). 

The Liberty have a chance to start another winning streak on Sunday afternoon when they face off against the Dallas Wings back home at Barclays Center (1 p.m. ET, ABC). 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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