Liberty wake up late, rally past Atlanta Dream

The Liberty went through a very strange experience Saturday in Indiana. They lost a game that counted.

That hadn’t happened since last Oct. 18 when they dropped Game 4 of the WNBA Finals at Minnesota. The Liberty won Game 5 to claim the top prize, then set a franchise record by taking the first nine games this season.

“I love this because we’re coming off a loss: How do we respond?” coach Sandy Brondello said before Tuesday night’s game at Barclays Center.

Her team needed to beat Atlanta in this last of five Commissioner’s Cup contests and Indiana needed to somehow lose at home to struggling Connecticut in order for the Liberty to return to the championship game as the Eastern rep on July 1.

The Liberty, who fell in the Cup final to Minnesota last season, responded quite well — after they fell behind by 17 with just under four minutes left in the third.

They got 34 points from Sabrina Ionescu and 23 from Breanna Stewart and rallied to beat this improved Dream team, 86-81, and move to 10-1.

“It was hard to find some energy and we finally found it,” Brondello said. “So I’m proud of how we responded and finally got this win against a really good team.”

But Indiana beat Connecticut. So the Fever and the Liberty went 4-1 in the Cup games. The Fever had that head-to-head tiebreaker. So they will play for the title against the Lynx.

“Obviously, that’s a disappointment,” Nyara Sabally said after adding eight points, two steals and two blocks to the cause. “That was a goal of ours that we wanted to hit. But it is what it is. We lost one game. It was a very important game.

“ . . . Now the focus is on the other big chip. So we’re fine with that.”

Te-Hina Paopao topped 8-4 Atlanta with 16 points. Allisha Gray added 14. The two-time All-Star guard came in averaging 21. “She’s just been one of the best players in the league,” coach Karl Smesko said.

That goes for Ionescu, too. She scored nine in a 13-4 run that shaved the 17-point problem down to 68-60 after three.

The Liberty opened the fourth with an 11-4 run. It was down to one at 72-71.

When Natasha Cloud delivered a three-point play, the Liberty had tied it at 76 with 3:56 remaining.

Gray made a three for Atlanta. But Jonquel Jones, who had 10 points and 10 boards after missing two games with an ankle issue, evened it with a three.

Then Stewart hit a layup — 81-79, 1:56 left. After an Atlanta turnover, Stewart scored from in close. Then Brionna Jones put the ball in off an offensive rebound, cutting it to 83-81. The Liberty had a shot clock violation, but Rhyne Howard missed inside.

Ionescu made one of two free throws with 13.4 seconds remaining for a three-point lead. Howard missed a three with about six seconds to go. Ionescu made two at the line at 2.2, and that was it.

“We just woke up,” Ionescu said of the comeback.

The Dream led 43-40 at the half, then went on a 21-7 run. It was 64-47. Brondello called for time. “You were positive,” Ionescu said to Brondello in the interview room.

“You try everything to try and motivate them,” Brondello said.

Sabally said there was “a mentality shift.” The Liberty outscored Atlanta 39-17 from there. “I was really proud of the way we fought,” Ionescu said. “ . . . I think you were able to see a team that stayed together, dug really deep and just figured it out on the fly.”