Sabrina Ionescu had a searing look in her eyes, and no I don’t mean before the shot. I mean after.
This shot was so grand, it zoomed past the need for outward exultation. Ionescu didn’t emit a roar after the ball rattled in, nor did she send jubilant fists flying through the air. She didn’t jump. She didn’t smile.
As Breanna Stewart approached her for a chest bump, Ionescu pursed her lips and widened her eyes, evoking a gladiator who just got a whiff of their rival’s demise. She summoned a level of intensity only available to the iciest snipers in hoop history.
A look that said, “It’s over. I went there. We won.”
There’s no better basketball scenario than the one Ionescu found herself in on Wednesday night at the Target Center in front of a record 19,521 in attendance, her New York Liberty and the opposing Minnesota Lynx knotted at a game-apiece in the WNBA Finals.
Tie game, shot clock off. Worst case? Overtime. Best case? Immortalization.
Jonquel Jones approached Ionescu to set a screen on Kayla McBride, then retreated, the Liberty putting their fate entirely in the capable hands of No. 20.
Ionescu approached the bottom of Minnesota’s midcourt logo with a left-handed in-and-out dribble, hit McBride with a fierce side-step, and lofted the basketball into a pantheon of snapshots that will define this glorious league’s history for the rest of time.
One second remained after Ionescu’s heroics, but Minnesota was unable to get a shot off on the other end. New York exhaled, taking Game 3, 80-77, in a spectacular fashion generally reserved for a fictional universe.
This was real.
“Definitely the biggest shot of my career,” reflected Ionescu postgame. “I visualize a lot when I’m practicing, in the offseason, the day before the game—putting myself in those situations.”
The shot—which was released from what felt like miles behind the three-point line and hung in the air to the tune of Father Stretch My Hands—completely sapped the air from a sold out Target Center.
“I didn’t even really remember it,” said Ionescu. “I had to go look at the video to see how far I was.
“In the timeout, Sandy was just like, ‘You’re gonna shoot this shot.’ I was able to get some separation in range, and I let the shot go.”
In what was a complete reversal from Games 1 and 2, Minnesota led for 37 minutes and 46 seconds, peeling off a 17-2 run over four minutes and 59 seconds of game time in the first quarter.
A Bridget Carleton three late in the first gave Minnesota a 15-point lead, the largest of the game.
The Lynx led by eight at halftime and extended their lead in the first few minutes of the third quarter.
New York looked to its best player for a signal, a spark to flip the game on its head. Breanna Stewart responded in kind.
It’s an overused sports cliché to say a player “willed” their team to victory, but if ever there was a time for the proper deployment, this was it.
Stewart took over, the two-time MVP disgusted at the notion that Lynx players would want to score. She was everywhere defensively, limiting the brilliant Napheesa Collier down the stretch and roaming wherever she sensed opportunity—pouncing on shots, passes, and loose dribbles. Once Stewart started knocking down her own shots—and oh my word did she start knocking down her own shots—it was curtains.
During a second-half huddle, Stewart issued a PSA to her teammates.
“We’re not gonna lose this f***ing game.”
Stewart hit six of her nine made field goals in the second half, a stunning array of above-the-break and wing threes, foul line jumpers, and leaning fadeaways out of post-ups. She was a fittingly perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line, finishing with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
“I was motivated, I was mad, and I liked the matchups I had,” said Stewart postgame, issuing a line so cold it belongs in a verse.
“It was like, if we’re gonna be this close, we’re not leaving here without this win.”
Stewart scored 13 straight Liberty points from the final minute-plus of the third quarter to the 6:18 mark of the fourth. The final two buckets of this burst were especially dazzling: a pull-up three at the top of the key over Alanna Smith, and a face-up jumper in which Stewart got Smith on a switch up top, dribbled her down to the elbow and stuck an and-one in her grill.
Smith injured her lower back at the end of the second quarter, and was clearly laboring while battling admirably in the second half. The injury altered the trajectory of the game, New York viciously exploiting Smith’s limited mobility.
Stewart’s and-one tied the game at 69. On the other end, Ionescu fouled Bridget Carleton who canned both free throws for a two-point lead with 6:06 left.
What happened next was riveting, like a big-screen action sequence in which two cars become stuck in traffic, oddly elevating the tension as anxiety pulsates because of the inability to move forward.
For three minutes and 41 seconds, the score did not budge: Minnesota up, 71-69.
“As the game wore on, offense got harder and harder,” said Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve.
With 2:25 remaining, Courtney Williams ended the drought, hitting a seven-foot floater for a four-point advantage.
Ionescu’s game-winning shot was the one, but Jonquel Jones delivered a three-pointer of equal importance as an answer to Williams’ bucket, calmly and confidently putting the ball in the basket from the right wing off a Leonie Fiebich assist.
Nearly 40 seconds later, Jones hit a layup off an Ionescu dime to give New York its first lead since the 8:34 mark of the first quarter.
After a McBride miss, Ionescu struck again, foreshadowing what was to come with a steely triple from the right wing for a 77-73 lead.
Ionescu finished with 13 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
As they always do, the Lynx battled, scoring four straight to tie the game with 16 seconds left on a Carleton layup and two Collier free throws. Sadly for the Minnesota fans in attendance, that 4-0 run was merely table setting for Ionescu’s main course.
I’m writing this the day after Game 3, and I’m still not over what went down.
“Ionescu will heave …” said ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco on the broadcast, “and HIT! AND HIT!!!” his voice cracking on the final exclamation.
“It was never in doubt,” said New York head coach Sandy Brondello. “Sabrina—she’s just a shooter. Not everyone can make ‘em; she can.”
Though Ionescu displayed nothing but intensity and focus after sinking the shot, her face changed once the final buzzer blared, tears evident in her eyes as she embraced Nyara Sabally, Kayla Thornton, Olaf Lange and others before pointing meaningfully at her family in the stands.
“We were all waiting for our moment,” said Stewart, “waiting for the script to flip a bit. They punched us in the face in the first quarter, but we just wore them down.”
Forgotten in the history books will be phenomenal performances from a number of Lynx players.
McBride couldn’t miss to begin the game, finishing with 19 points on 5-of-9 from three. Collier logged another breathtaking 40 minutes, scoring 22 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and swiping five steals. Carleton notched 14 points, including a pair of triples and a miraculous reverse layup over a strong Jones contest in the first quarter.
It wasn’t enough. Minnesota didn’t blow Game 3; New York simply rose to a level that will be remembered forever should it finish the job and claim the first title in franchise history.
“We know we’re one game away from winning the championship,” said Stewart. “I think they’re gonna give us their best shot, everything they’ve got.
“And you know what? So will we.”
