Playoff-bound Liberty beat Sky in quest for No. 1 seed

The Liberty didn’t play Thursday night, but they still clinched the inevitable — their playoff ticket — thanks to losses by Atlanta and Minnesota.

They are second in the WNBA standings and want to chase down No. 1 Las Vegas to secure home-court advantage throughout the postseason. That could come in especially handy if they make the Finals and draw the Aces.

The Liberty added a significant win to the pile Friday night at Barclays Center. They beat the Chicago Sky, 89-73, behind Breanna Stewart’s 21 points and 12 rebounds, Sabrina Ionescu’s 19 points and eight assists and Jonquel Jones’ 18 points, including the 3,000th of her career.

“Obviously, our goal is to bring a championship to New York City,” Ionescu said on the court when it was over.

The Liberty’s fifth straight victory moved them to 23-6, tying the 2015 edition for the most regular-season wins in franchise history, and there still are 11 games to go.

“That’s good,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “We had big goals coming in, and I think we continue to grow and build our chemistry.”

Las Vegas is 26-3. So how important is it for the Liberty to gain home-court advantage?

“Extremely important,” said Stefanie Dolson, their 10th-year reserve center, who returned after missing 17 games with an ankle injury.

Stewart seconded that, citing her Seattle Storm title team from five years ago.

“When I think about home-court advantage, I think about our [semifinal] series in 2018 versus Phoenix and we went to Game 5 and were able to go back home,” Stewart said. “You’re comfortable playing in front of your home crowd, and realizing that little things like that matter. Experience matters. Comfort matters.”

The crowd of 8,070 — including “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis, who was on hand for the second straight game — saw the Liberty take a 48-40 lead into halftime and go ahead by 12 early in the third quarter.

But the Liberty had trouble shaking the Sky (12-17). Chicago chipped it down to 57-53 on a three-pointer by Alanna Smith, who paced the Sky with 19 points.

Marine Johannes hit a three-pointer and Jones scored inside to quickly raise the advantage to 62-53.

It still was a nine-point game heading to the fourth, at 64-55.

Stewart opened the final period with five straight points to trigger a 9-2 run for a 73-57 lead. When Dolson made a layup with two minutes left, the margin swelled to 23.

This wasn’t just an offensive show, though. Chicago committed 19 turnovers leading to 27 points.

“We’re really growing in the defensive category,” Ionescu said, “because we understand we’re going to be able to score, but if we can stop people as well, we’re going to be a really tough team to beat.”

Notes & quotes: Courtney Vandersloot had six assists and moved into sole possession of second on the WNBA’s all-time list with 2,606 .  .  . The Liberty got to meet Sudeikis. Said Ionescu: “We were super-happy that we were able to go up and take a picture with him and his family.”