Liberty beat Valkyries again despite missing centers Jonquel Jones, Nyara Sabally to injury

There were nearly 15,000 fans inside Barclays Center Thursday night for the Liberty vs. Valkyries game and that included a newcomer, a famous face in the crowd. He appeared on the videoboard during the first quarter, but he had been on bigger screens than that.

Coach Sandy Brondello and some of her Liberty players even got to pose for photos with Jackie Chan before the game.

“Honestly, probably one of my favorite actors,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “He’s so funny. Being able to see him in real life was pretty surreal . . . This was his first women’s basketball game. And so for us to be able to bring in a new fan to the game and put on a show, he was so happy to be able to watch us.

“But I think that just shows the growth of women’s basketball, the growth of what we’re doing here in New York.”

Chan and everyone else in the house got to see the WNBA’s defending champs in an epic struggle with Golden State. After beating the expansion Valkyries by 28 here Tuesday night, the Liberty were missing the substantial presence of 6-6 Jonquel Jones in the rematch and didn’t play great. But they managed to walk off with an 82-77 win to improve to 5-0.

“We found a way,” Brondello said.

Brondello said she hoped Jones (hamstring) and backup center Nyara Sabally (knee) could return on the back side of this back-to-back set Friday night at Washington.

On this front side, Breanna Stewart went 15-for-19 from the line and scored 27, points including 13 in the fourth. Ionescu hit six threes and scored 24.

The Valkyries (2-3) received 18 points and 13 rebounds from Janelle Salaun and owned a 41-36 advantage on the boards, including 15-8 on the offensive glass.

They took a 72-71 edge on Temi Fagbenle’s layup with 3:54 left. Stewart countered with a layup off of a Natasha Cloud steal. But Salaun sank a three to put the Valkyries up by two.

Stewart made one of two at the line to cut it to 75-74. Then she nailed two more free throws for the lead. Julie Vanloo hit a jumper to give Golden State the edge back, but she missed a free throw trying for a three-point play.

The 6-4 Stewart kept drawing fouls. She made two more at the line for a 78-77 Liberty lead with 1:35 left.

“She’s so long,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said before the game. “She’s so tall.”

Cloud then drove to make it a three-point game with 24.4 seconds to go.

Cecilia Zandalasini missed a three for the tie. Cloud grabbed the rebound, was fouled and canned two to clinch it with 4.1 seconds left.

“Some nights are going to be ugly,” Cloud said, “and you’ve just got to kind of grit it out.”

The teams were tied at 37-all at halftime. The Liberty led 57-56 after three.

“Of course, when you play a team back to back, they’re not going to roll over and die after losing by [almost] 30,” Stewart said. “ . . . But it’s good for us to be tested.”