The Liberty are now just a win away from completing the series sweep in a rematch of last season's WNBA Finals.

The two-time MVP had an up-and-down postseason last year, capped by her 3-for-17, 10-point effort in the finale of the Finals. She also passed instead of taking the last shot in that one-point loss, something she regretted.

Ionescu wasn’t alone in delighting the crowd at Barclays Center throughout New York’s 87-77 victory. In addition to Ionescu’s 21 points on 9 of 15 shooting, two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart finished with a team-high 34 points, five rebounds and four assists. Stewart’s frontcourt partner Jonquel Jones added 13 points and 12 boards.

Ionescu was an All-Star and All-WNBA second team honoree for the third straight year, and she gained an Olympic gold medal in between. Now she’s on primary ball-handling duty with Courtney Vandersloot taking a reserve role for the playoffs.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points as she led the New York Liberty to a 87-77 win against the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their WNBA playoff semifinal series, much to the enjoyment of basketball superfan Spike Lee.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 24 points and the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 88-84 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series. Game 3 is Friday night in Las Vegas, with the two-time defending champion Aces trying to avoid being knocked out by the team they beat in the WNBA Finals last year.

For the first time since 2021, the Las Vegas Aces will face playoff elimination following an 88-84 loss to the New York Liberty today

Sabrina Ionescu scored 24 points and made key plays down the stretch to help the Liberty beat the Aces and put the defending champs on the brink.