Sabrina Ionescu got what she wanted in the first two games in Brooklyn, but she’s going to want what happened Friday night in Las Vegas to stay in Vegas.
The All-Star guard was swarmed by opposing defenders and endured a ragged shooting night, scoring just four points in the Liberty’s 95-81 road loss in Game 3 to the Aces.
Ionescu came in averaging 24.5 points over her first four playoff appearances — including 24 in a Game 2 victory in this series — but she couldn’t get untracked in the Liberty’s first loss of the postseason.
She missed 6 of 7 field-goal attempts, committed five turnovers and finished minus-23 in 30 minutes.
“She’s been playing great, so of course they want to make it hard for her, and I think they did,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “She’s got to continue to trust it. We’ll get the ball back to her and take the [shots] that are open. She missed some open ones that she usually makes, but sometimes teams speed you up.”
Aces guard Chelsea Gray said the key against Ionescu was “our attention to detail coming off the pick-and-roll and just making sure she’s not comfortable.”
Vegas coach Becky Hammon similarly said it was a matter of “trying to make Sabrina uncomfortable and trying to not let her get downhill” and into the paint.
“A-plus, great job,” Hammon added when asked to assess how that worked out.
Indeed, Ionescu was shut down and shut out for the first three quarters.
She didn’t score until there were nine minutes remaining in the game.
“She’ll be fine,” Brondello said. “She’s a competitor, she’ll take this on the nose and come ready to play in the next game [on Sunday].”
