Analysis: Sabrina Ionescu was ready for signature moment in WNBA Finals
MINNEAPOLIS — What’s that about Sabrina Ionescu not being an All-WNBA first team player?
It’s hard to know what was colder Wednesday night in the Target Center: Ionescu’s 28-foot game-winner with a second to go that lifted New York to an 80-77 Game 3 WNBA Finals win over the Minnesota Lynx, or the fifth-year guard’s evaluation of her play after the fact.
“That was just a great All-WNBA second team performance,” Ionescu deadpanned, before resting her chin in her palm, leaning on the table and smiling. “That’s it.”
In reality, it was a little more than that: It was a performance — in the clutch, no less — that put the Liberty just one game from winning their first WNBA title in franchise history. New York now leads the best-of-five series 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for Friday in Minneapolis. If the Lynx force a Game 5, it will be played in New York.
Hours before the All-League teams were announced to the public Wednesday afternoon, Ionescu told reporters she wasn’t upset about being left off the first team despite a career year. The players who did make first team: Ionescu’s teammate Breanna Stewart (who, oddly, wasn’t a unanimous selection), Minnesota forward Napheesa Collier, Las Vegas forward A’ja Wilson, Connecticut forward Alyssa Thomas and Indiana rookie Caitlin Clark.
Ionescu finished sixth with 204 points, behind Clark (302 points) and Thomas (255 points). That made her the top vote-getter on the second team. She swore she didn’t care about individual awards and that she was solely focused on winning. But the former No. 1 pick — who came into the league with the type of fanfare and hype that Clark did, only four years earlier — certainly played like she had something to prove. And if she keeps playing this way, especially in big moments, this series will probably be wrapped up in four games.
After trailing by as many as 15, New York took a 74-73 lead with 1:31 to go when Ionescu drove to the paint and handed the ball off to Jonquel Jones, who finished an easy look inside. It was the Liberty’s first lead since 5-2, way back in the first quarter.
The assist to Jones gave Ionescu a line of seven points, six assists and five rebounds — respectable, for sure, but lacking in the scoring department, especially for someone who’s known for deep 3s.
But you’ve gotta take what the defense gives you, Ionescu said. She wasn’t worried.
Which is why 35 seconds later, when she saw a sliver of daylight on the perimeter, she drained a 3 to push New York’s lead to 77-73.
Minnesota responded with a tough layup from Bridget Carleton, and two free throws from Collier to tie it at 77 with 16 seconds to play. That’s when New York coach Sandy Brondello called a timeout and turned to Ionescu. “You’re going to shoot this,” she said and everyone in the huddle — even Stewart and her 22 second-half points — agreed.
After a foul by the Lynx, New York inbounded the ball, Ionescu took a few seconds off the clock dribbling around midcourt before she used a step-back to her left — know someone else who likes to do that? — to create separation from Kayla McBride and nailed a 28-foot game-winner with 1 second to play. Minnesota couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer.
Said McBride: “Great player made a great shot. I guarded her for 40 minutes.”
“What I love about her is that she backs herself,” Brondello said. “Not everyone can take those big shots and make them. She can.”
It’s been a long road for Ionescu. Four years ago the 5-foot-11 guard came into the league riding a huge wave of momentum after a dominant college career in which she smashed numerous records, including the NCAA record for triple-doubles (she finished college with 26, the most of any man or woman in NCAA basketball history). She was the first player in NCAA history, man or woman, to tally more than 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists.
She led Oregon to its first Final Four, in 2019, and, instead of leaving early for the WNBA — though she was practically a lock to go No. 1 in the 2019 draft — returned in hopes of winning the Ducks their first title. But COVID-19 derailed the 2020 NCAA Tournament, and her college career ended with a whimper.
She went No. 1 in 2020 and — like Clark this spring — signed a huge endorsement deal with Nike before she’d even played a professional game. Then she suffered a gruesome ankle injury three games into her rookie year. It sidelined her for the rest of the “wubble” season. A year later she still wasn’t completely healthy.
It wasn’t until last offseason that Ionescu finally felt like herself again. She spent the offseason reintroducing the floater to her game, and made the 2024 Olympic roster. The second iteration of her Nike signature shoe — popular with numerous NBA players — was announced this spring. (She also got married, and hosted the Oregon Duck mascot at her wedding reception.)
That Ionescu would hit this shot felt more than fitting. Not just because of all the people this season who have suddenly discovered the league and (incorrectly) said Clark was the only player who could shoot like that, but also because those people often took it a step further, claiming Clark was the only thing exciting about the WNBA.
Here’s the truth: Ionescu has been practicing and visualizing those shots for years.
“I didn’t really realize how far (out) I was, but like I said, it’s a shot that I take often and I take in practice and that I take before the game,” Ionescu said. “It’s not like a Hail Mary, ‘I hope this goes in.’ Once I got it off, I was like, yeah, this is in.”
Ionescu doesn’t miss. The same cannot be said for this season’s All-WNBA voters.
Schnell is a voting member of the 67-person panel that decides WNBA superlatives.
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
(This story has been updated to add new information.)