Two hours before the game, Sandy Brondello didn’t even know if Sabrina Ionescu would play. She’d been downgraded to “doubtful” with an illness diagnosis on the Liberty’s injury report that afternoon and hadn’t been able to speak up after the win two days earlier.
Ionescu will likely be on a minutes limit against the Lynx, who just took the Commissioner’s Cup away from the Liberty less than a week ago.
Maybe there won’t be an Eastern Conference Player of the Month selection for June at all.
Ionescu ended up playing 37 minutes.
She ended up with 17 points.
And those contributions, combined with Jonquel Jones’ 21 points, helped the Liberty — after being held to a combined seven points in the first two meetings with the Lynx — to a 76-67 victory on Tuesday at Barclays Center and their first win over another WNBA Finals contender, Minnesota, in 2024.
However, Liberty appeared to avoid an injury crisis midway through the third quarter.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, the defensive anchor tasked with protecting the opposing team’s leading scorer, limped onto the field with just over six minutes left in the game and attempted to play on, but eventually limped off to the bench.
She did not play the rest of the third quarter but returned before the fourth quarter.
There were a lot of factors that worked in Liberty’s favor to beat a team like the Lynx, and for the most part, that happened: Ionescu warmed up before the game and was determined to play, knocking down a three-pointer early in the first quarter.
Napheesa Collier during Liberty’s win. Michel Farshi/New York Post
She jump-started her team’s transition offense and helped keep the score tied in the second half.
Jones also played in Tuesday’s game after struggling in the team’s two games against the Lynx to open the 2024 season.
She didn’t expect them to change their defensive strategy — and expected other teams to follow a similar blueprint to contain her going forward — but then she found a way to reach 20 points for the first time since June 20.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the score tied at 42-42 at halftime. Jones and Kayla McBride led the way for Liberty and the Lynx with 13 points each.
Jones had an assist, and she made three 3-pointers.
In the second quarter, she got an offensive rebound and made a basket.
But in the fourth quarter, Liberty started to get going.
A 3-pointer from Jones gave Liberty a brief lead, but then Laney Hamilton tied the game at 65-65 before Liberty went on an 11-2 run with 6 minutes, 10 seconds left.
Earlier in the season, the Liberty passed the litmus test by losing to the Aces in the finals.
They also picked up another win against the Sun, the No. 2 team in the league and who the Liberty beat last year to reach the championship series.
But they couldn’t beat the Lynx.
For Liberty, that changed Tuesday.
