Spike Lee Bestowed New York Upon Sabrina Ionescu In Liberty Win
The New York Liberty secured a 91-82 over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, completing a two-game first-round sweep over Atlanta and sending the No.1 seeded Liberty to the WNBA Semifinals.
The Liberty surged back from a nine-point deficit in the first quarter, outscoring the Dream by 14 points in the second half — which was largely due to an iconic performance from Liberty star guard Sabrina Ionescu.
Ionescu finished the game with 36 points while adding 9 assists and 3 steals. Although Ionescu has had many elite games in her WNBA career, this may be her best playoff performance to date.
And it's made even cooler because New York icon Spike Lee made a rare appearance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (he usually sticks to Madison Square Garden) to see Ionescu ball out courtside.
Spike Lee courtside for Liberty Game 2 pic.twitter.com/s2VxNCF92B
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) September 25, 2024
Lee could be seen cheering on Ionescu and her Liberty teammates all game long. And after the game ended, Ionescu dropped an iconic quote about an interaction she had with the Big Apple legend.
When asked whether there was a moment that stood out as a turning point for Ionescu (who scored 23 of her 36 in the second half) in the game, she said, "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 at that moment.
"I was like, we're winning this," Ionescu continued. "It was just injected, it came all the way through."
Sabrina Ionescu talks about getting a high five from Spike Lee tonight:
— New York Liberty Videos (@SNYLiberty) September 25, 2024
"I felt like New York was injected into my veins at that moment" 😂 pic.twitter.com/gOHBStoqwX
What a fantastic quote from Ionescu, who has produced the best season of her career thus far and appears to be peaking at the perfect time, as New York is slated to face the Las Vegas Aces (rematching last year's WNBA Finals) in the next round.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.