The WNBA’s first-round playoff best-of-three series are unforgiving for both teams. The Atlanta Dream — in this case — had their backs against the wall in a do-or-die Game 2 with no more room for error. And for the Liberty, a loss at home Tuesday night meant a decisive Game 3 in Atlanta despite having the No. 1 overall seed. “Remember last year we escaped,” Sandy Brondello said pregame as a message to her players, referring to last year’s overtime first-round Game 2 against the Mystics that nearly resulted in a loss. “We could’ve been going back to Washington… that’s tough to win on someone else’s home court.” Chef Sab was in full effect tonight @sabrina_i20 is our @Withings Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/dXPuvKh4Vv — New York Liberty (@nyliberty) September 25, 2024 The Liberty escaped again on Tuesday night, getting a 36-point performance from Sabrina Ionescu in a 91-82 Game 2 win at Barclays Center. The star added nine assists and a rebound in the win, knocking down big shots down the stretch to notch a new playoff career-high. She became the first player in WNBA history to record at least 35 points, five made treys and five assists in a postseason game. But Ionescu made sure to acknowledge her teammate’s contributions in the fourth en route to the win: Jonquel Jones assisted Courtney Vandersloot on a floater to go up three with 5:41 remaining; Jones fought for an offensive board and converted a layup to go up five with five minutes remaining; Leonie Fiebich converted a traditional three-point play to go up eight a minute later; and Breanna Stewart used her 7-1 wingspan to score on a tip in to go up five at the 4:30 mark. “So it was just a total team effort of us continuing to just chip away,” Ionescu said of the plays while Atlanta threatened late. “I think that’s kind of — ultimately it’s tough to play against a team that does that for 40 minutes.” The win secures a sweep and books a highly-anticipated second-round matchup with the No. 4 seed Las Vegas Aces. Jones had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Stewart recorded 13 points, six rebounds and two assists. Fiebich finished with nine points while dealing with foul trouble. Atlanta’s Allisha Gray scored a team-high 26 points while Rhyne Howard contributed 19 more. Game 1 was an easy blowout win decided way before the final buzzer. Game 2, however, wasn’t decided until the final minutes after the home team’s defense wrapped up the win. The Libs won the final period, 26-18, and got a double-digit lead with 2:22 remaining in regulation after Ionescu’s layup. It was essentially the dagger after she came up big with two treys, both beyond 24 feet, in the prior minutes. She took the game over and heard MVP chants from the crowd — on two occasions — while knocking down free throws in the final seconds. But before Ionescu’s takeover, it was Gray who took centerstage inside Barclays Center. The first quarter was the Allisha Gray show. She played the entire period and went 5-for-5 and scored 14 points. Unlike Sunday’s Game 1, Gray and Howard, who scored six in the first period Tuesday, struck first and dictated play at the point of attack. It led to an 28-19 advantage at the end of the first. As Liberty dwindled the lead, Fiebich got glued to the bench after recording her third foul. But her team was able to start the quarter, 18-8, and regained the lead after Ionescu drained a 30-foot trey that cued the Barclays Center crowd to roar. But a 12-6 finish in the final six minutes of the second — without Fiebich’s length on defense — helped Atlanta go into halftime up, 48-43. Fiebich’s absence was clear, with guard Jordin Canada getting free for a wide-open floater and pull-up jumper during that span. The guard also went into halftime with five assists. She eventually finished with eight points and 11 assists while keeping the Libs’ defense unbalance with pace. “We anticipated them pushing on makes and misses, and she’s one of the fastest players in this league,” Brondello said of Canada. I just didn’t think we had [enough] urgency of keeping her out of the paint… until that last 15 minutes. I thought we just got so much better there. “She’s a good player. Imagine if she would’ve been healthier,” Brondello continued on Canada, who missed 20 games in the regular-season. “They wouldn’t have been an eight seed. Put it that way.” Tina Charles’ made jumper with three seconds remaining in the first half sent the message to the Liberty: a sweep on the Barclays Center floor won’t come easy. RHYNE HOWARD DENIES BREANNA STEWART pic.twitter.com/tOLyb7tlZ8 — ESPN (@espn) September 25, 2024 Fiebich started the third on Canada while the Libs forced two shot-clock violations within the first two minutes. But the Dream managed to trade buckets and at the 7:35 mark in the third, Howard rose up to reject Breanna Stewart’s fast-break layup at the rim. The star guard then followed up with five points within the next minute to put the Dream up, 55-47, and force a Liberty timeout. “It was nice,” Stewart said about the block. “I could see [Howard] coming so I was like ‘alright, we’re just gonna both go up for it. And she timed it really well. Like hindsight, I think maybe I would have used a different hand or something. “She got the block. I got the win.” But Ionescu, however, had a run of her own. After a Fiebich made trey, Ionescu scored five straight, including an and-1 layup on Charles to tie the game. She scored six more in the quarter as the Liberty went into the final period up one. That’s when Ionescu held it down for her team and got a less eventful finish than last year’s Game 2 in the first round. “We don’t want to go and play another game,” Brondello said pregame. “So that should be motivation in itself — to get a few extra days rest.” Few extra days rest secured. They’ll need it with a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals in the next round.