B/R
The top seed in the WNBA playoffs is playing like a top seed.
The New York Liberty finished their first-round sweep of the eighth-seeded Atlanta Dream with a 91-82 victory on Tuesday at Barclays Center. It came as little surprise, as the Liberty have their eyes on the WNBA title and defeated the Dream in three of their four regular-season matchups.
They also cruised to a commanding 83-69 win in Game 1.
New York took care of business, and the two-time reigning champion Las Vegas Aces did the same in the second game of Tuesday’s double-header, taking down the Seattle Storm 83-76 on their home court.
Las Vegas is trying to become the first WNBA team to win three straight championships since the Houston Comets won the league’s first four titles from 1997 through 2000, and it took the first step toward doing so with a sweep of the Storm.
Here is a look at Tuesday’s results and schedule.
WNBA Playoffs Tuesday Scores and Schedule
New York Liberty 91, Atlanta Dream 82
The Liberty were surely looking for a straightforward win so they could start focusing on the next round, but the Dream missed the memo.
In fact, the visitors jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half with Allisha Gray catching fire from deep. While New York battled back to take the lead in the second quarter, Atlanta did not go away and reestablished a five-point lead at intermission before a back-and-forth second half.
Ultimately, though, the Liberty had too much firepower.
Sabrina Ionescu was unstoppable on her way to 36 points, nine assists, and three steals behind 12-of-23 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 shooting from deep. She drilled back-to-back three-pointers to take the lead in the middle of the fourth quarter and then assisted Leonie Fiebich for a critical and-1 as the home team started to seize control.
Ionescu wasn’t alone, as Jonquel Jones (20 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and one block on 8-of-12 shooting from the field) notched a double-double while Breanna Stewart added 13 points and six boards.
Atlanta received 26 points behind 5-of-8 shooting from deep from Gray, as well as a box-score-stuffing showing from Rhyne Howard (19 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks).
Still, it wasn’t enough down the stretch.
Ionescu controlled the pace even when she wasn’t directly scoring and assisting and fittingly put the game away on the free-throw line as the crowd rewarded her with MVP chants.
A’ja Wilson and the two-time defending champions are moving on to the next round.
The Aces defeated the Storm 83-76 on Tuesday night at Michelob Ultra Arena to sweep their way into the semifinals, where they will meet the No. 1-seeded Liberty.
Amid a back and forth battle between some of the WNBA’s best, the Aces were able to close out their first-round series against the Storm courtesy of veterans like Wilson and Kelsey Plum.
Wilson, the 2024 WNBA MVP, finished Tuesday’s contest with 24 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks while Plum tacked on a team-high 29 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray were just as important to the team’s success as they combined for 21 points in the win.
While the Storm had a tough task going up against the defending champs, Gabby Williams and Nneka Ogwumike did all they could to help Seattle attempt to keep its 2024 season alive.
Williams notched 20 points, five rebounds and three assists while Ogwumike finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and one assist.
Skylar Diggins-Smith and Ezi Magbegor also contributed 27 points, but Jewell Loyd finished with just nine points, a far cry from the 19.7 points she averaged during the regular season.
With the Aces moving on to face a tough New York team that finished the regular season with a 32-8 record, the Aces will continue to rely on Wilson and Plum in a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals in the next round against the Liberty
