Sabrina Ionescu leads Liberty to fifth straight win

Sabrina Ionescu was the answer on Friday night.

When the Liberty went nearly four minutes without a basket to open the game against the Phoenix Mercury, Ionescu knocked down their first field goal, a three-pointer.

When the Liberty trailed by 12 points midway through the second quarter, Ionescu scored five points in 32 seconds to force a Mercury timeout.

And when the Liberty finally took their first lead of the contest midway through the third quarter, yes, Ionescu was the one to score the basket.

Ionescu had 29 points and eight assists as the Liberty defeated the Mercury, 89-76, at Barclays Center to extend their winning streak to five games. She shot 11-for-21 from the field, including 4-for-11 on three-pointers.

“We were getting really good looks, we just weren’t really executing,” Ionescu said. “And obviously once we got going, we saw a few go in and the momentum went our way, we were getting stops on the defensive end and it really opened everything up to us on the offensive end.”

Jonquel Jones, in her second game back after missing nine contests with a sprained ankle, added 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Alyssa Thomas had 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for the Mercury (15-9).

The Liberty (17-6) closed the first half on a 19-7 run in the final 5:09 of the second quarter. Ionescu had nine points in the run, which started with her five-point spurt and ended with two made foul shots with nine-tenths of a second left to tie the score at 46.

The Liberty’s 19-7 run started immediately after Mercury leading scorer Satou Sabally recorded her third foul and went to the bench. Sabally finished with six points on 3-for-13 shooting, including two points in 9:15 in the first half.

“We didn’t start the way we wanted to, but we made some adjustments in some of our schemes and I think that helped us,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “We played with a little more urgency and then we started making shots. But defense was making offense, we were moving the ball a little bit and being more intentional with how we wanted to play.”

The Mercury opened the game on an 8-0 run and the Liberty didn’t score their first field goal until Ionescu’s three-pointer with 6:16 left in the first quarter. The Liberty didn’t take their first lead until 3:53 left in the third quarter (56-54).

After losing twice to Phoenix earlier in the season with some key players out, the Liberty wanted to ensure a different result Friday.

“We kind of felt they got the better side of us when we played them the last time and we weren’t at full strength,” Jones said. “So we kind of wanted to come out and kind of set the tone and introduce them to us at full strength.”

Notes & quotes: Nyara Sabally likely will miss her third straight game on Saturday with knee discomfort, Brondello said before Friday’s game. Sabally, a 6-5 center selected No. 5 overall in the 2022 WNBA Draft, is averaging a career-high 5.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 19.4 minutes per game this season. She hasn’t played since the All-Break break, last playing on July 16. Saturday would be her ninth missed game of the season. “It’s unfortunate,” Brondello said. “She’s a player with such great potential, but the injury bug has been the hardest thing she’s had to overcome. Once you see her  [healthy] and she’s back on court, she plays at such a high level and we know that the ceiling is really high for her.”