Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart punch New York’s 2024 Finals ticket

The New York Liberty put down the back-to-back defending champions in Game 4 in Las Vegas, avenging last year’s Finals defeat, too. Sabrina Ionescu plus Jonquel Jones lit up the perimeter. Breanna Stewart scored at three levels. And the defense shut down any hope for a second-half comeback.

The Liberty’s intensity resembled that of unfed wolves early. Ionescu rattled off a dozen marks, nailing three trays and driving left into the lane for a bucket plus the foul. And Stewart scored on a big-to-big pick-and-roll set, saved a broken play by maneuvering from the top to the cup easily and registered a putback.

Yet, the Aces picked up extra opportunities and earned multiple trips to the line, offsetting their six of 19 start from the field. 

In frame two, Leonie Fiebich – New York’s connector- picked up her third foul as the group was ahead 10 points with five minutes left in the half. As she sat, the visitors were outscored 11-4 to end the period on moves from Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson, Alysha Clark and Kelsey Plum. The Liberty converted two of 11 baskets and committed three turnovers in that span.

At halftime, the Liberty were up 41-38. The squad had 20 paint points, none on the break, seven via second chances, three off turnovers and two from the bench. 

The Aces had 18 interior marks, four in the open court, four on spare tries, 12 off turnovers and seven from the reserves. 

Then both squads raised their defensive RPMs. For the guests, Kennedy Burke was held scoreless on three tries. Stewart missed at the arc against Clark and Wilson plus failed curling into a jumper over Plum. Ionescu got her 3-pointer denied by Wilson on a switch. And the squad had five turnovers as it recorded five of 19 baskets. 

The Aces were barely any better, connecting on a third of looks and outscoring the Liberty by one. Wilson was the solution on offense, dribbling from the wing to the rim for a layup, scoring on an inverted pick-and-roll set with Clark and making a shot under the cup on the feed from Tiffany Hayes. 

The fourth quarter started with the visitors on top, 53-51.

It was a heavyweight fight heading into the championship rounds. The Liberty’s defense maintained its edge, and their three artillery strikes were the difference.

Stewart had three blocks, two on Plum up close and the last against Wilson at mid-range. And Jackie Young and Gray were held scoreless on five attempts. 

Despite Stewart’s four misses, the offense was in sixth gear, shooting 50% to close the game. Ionescu was the four quarter’s leading scorer with seven points, coming from a give-and-go on the right side plus nailing two freebies and a left-side catch-and-shoot banger.

The Liberty won 76-62. The group picked up 30 paint points, four on the break, 14 via second chances, eight off turnovers and eight from the bench.

Ionescu totaled 22 points on 50% shooting, with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and four turnovers. Stewart dropped 19 marks on eight of 21 attempts, with 14 rebounds, five assists, one steal, four blocks and two giveaways. And Jones had 14 points on 45.5% accuracy, with six rebounds and one turnover. 

The Aces logged 28 interior digits, seven in the open court, four on extra tries, 14 off turnovers and 13 from the reserves. 

Wilson put up 19 points on seven of 13 shots, with 10 boards, one dime, one steal, five blocks and a turnover. Plum tallied 17 points on 31.3% shooting, with two rebounds, one assist and two steals. And Hayes had 11 points on 37.5% shooting, with three rebounds, two assists, one block and two turnovers.

Stewart and Ionescu handled the on-court interview. The former said, “We watched the film. Game 3 was ugly… We didn’t want to play another game in New York until it’s the Finals.”

The latter said, “We haven’t done anything yet… We are three wins away, and that’s really important to understand. We got to come out, and we got to punch because nothing’s been given to us yet.”

The winner of Connecticut Sun @ Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday will play New York in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday. 

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