First Round Game 2: NYL leads 1-0
Sabrina Ionescu put on a big show in the New York Liberty’s playoff opener.
Ionescu attempts to follow up with another strong outing and the second-seeded Liberty will look to wrap up the first-round series when they host the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night.
Ionescu was in top form in Game 1 as she scored 29 points and set a franchise postseason record with seven 3-pointers in New York’s 90-75 victory on Friday.
Ionescu, the top overall pick of the 2020 draft, set a WNBA record with 128 3-pointers in the regular season.
Her big game was needed with MVP candidate Breanna Stewart struggling and scoring just 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting.
Jonquel Jones contributed 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Liberty.
The seventh-seeded Mystics will be attempting to force a winner-take-all Game 3 that they would host on Friday.
Washington isn’t lacking for confidence as it split the four regular-season meetings with New York. And one of its two losses came by one point in overtime.
Myisha Hines-Allen scored 21 points in Game 1 but two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne had just 11 points and point guard Natasha Cloud had four on 1-of-8 shooting.
The Mystics were outrebounded 43-37 and New York held a 9-2 edge in blocked shots.
Sykes had 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting but missed all five of her 3-point attempts.
