Liberty is focused on defeating Aces in Game 3 and returning to the finals

A return to the WNBA Finals is within reach for the New York Liberty when they face the Las Vegas Aces on Friday as they look to stave off the end of their two-year championship reign.

The Liberty took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinal series against the Aces with an 88-84 home win in Game 2 on Tuesday. Sabrina Ionescu scored 24 points with nine rebounds as New York pulled out of a tie with just over a minute left.

Ionescu’s pull-up jump gave the Liberty an 83-81 lead with 1:15 left, and they never trailed from then on. Breanna Stewart, who finished the game with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, sealed the win with two free throws with five seconds left.

There’s been a lot of talk about the Liberty’s attempt to avenge their loss to the Aces in last year’s WNBA Finals, but New York knows there’s still more to achieve.

“They came out swinging (in Game 2), playing really aggressively and … we stuck together, chipping away quarter after quarter and making big plays when we needed to,” Ionescu said. “Now we have a great opportunity to win the first game on home court. That is our goal.”

According to ESPN, Ionescu has scored at least 20 points with five assists and shot at least 50 percent from the floor in three consecutive playoff games, making him the second person to accomplish the feat, joining Diana Taurasi in 2009.

After averaging 20.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in 38 regular-season games and finishing third in MVP voting, Stewart is averaging 20.5 points and 7.3 in four playoff games, all victories Rebounds scored.

The Aces’ A’Ja Wilson earned her third MVP award of the season with 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds and scored 22.5 points with 8.5 rebounds as Las Vegas fell 2-2 in four playoff games .

Wilson scored 24 points on 11 of 18 shooting and seven rebounds in Tuesday’s loss.

Chelsea Gray got the Aces off to a fast start in Game 2 with 10 points in the first quarter to give her team a 27-22 lead. But Las Vegas scored just 13 points on 5 of 15 shooting in the second quarter as New York took a 46-40 lead at the break.

The Liberty led by eight with eight minutes left in the game before the Aces stormed back with a three-pointer from Alysha Clark to tie the game with 1:31 left. Las Vegas was outscored 7-3 the rest of the game while missing three shots from the floor, a free throw and a turnover in the final minute.

No WNBA team has ever come back from a 2-0 deficit in a playoff series, and while the Aces are back at home, they are just 13-7 in the regular season in their own building after going 19: 1 had lost.

“We neither lost nor won a championship. Nothing was won,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “There’s no doubt about it, there’s a war on our hands.”

–Field level media