Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points in helping the New York Liberty to an 87-77 victory over the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their WNBA playoff semifinal series, much to the delight of basketball superfans ball. Spike Lee.
The famed director is no stranger to courtside seats, regularly watching his beloved New York Knicks, but he was a big presence in the corner for the three-time WNBA All-Star on Sunday.
Lee donned an Ionescu jersey as he watched from inside the Barclays Center, cheering when the 2024 Olympic gold medalist hit her shots.
“He was the first person to call me and share his excitement about New York getting the No. 1 (2020) pick,” Ionescu said after the win, describing his longtime friendship with Lee since the time she was drafted out of Oregon. .
“Every time I saw him we had a little chat and I said he had to come to a game. Being able to see him here, cheering us out loud, over there chirping at the referees and talking to the players, it was really fun.
Over the years, Lee has become known for his trash talk on the court – whether towards legendary NBA players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Reggie Miller or Scottie Pippen – and this time, he directed it towards Aces star goaltender Kelsey Plum.
The two could be seen chirping at each other in the third quarter, but Plum told reporters it was all good humor.
“I can’t say exactly what was said, but I told him he should speak louder,” Plum said, according to AP.
“But it was good and fun and really cool that he was here.”
It was the second straight Liberty game Lee watched, as New York continues its campaign for a first-ever WNBA championship.
Sunday’s game was a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals, which the Aces won in four games to capture their second straight title, but it was the Liberty who came out quickest in front of their home crowd.
Breanna Stewart, who was disappointed with her performance in last year’s series, came out swinging, scoring 20 of her game-high 34 points in the first half as the Liberty took quickly ahead.
But the Aces never faded and were kept in the game thanks to Plum and league MVP A’ja Wilson, who added 24 and 21 points, respectively.
With the match on the edge, it was up to Ionescu to make the difference. The 26-year-old sent Lee and the crowd into a frenzy with two three-pointers in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
“We came out, it’s the first game, we wanted to play with a sense of urgency and protect our home field,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello told reporters.
Game 2 will take place on Tuesday in New York.
Sun steals road victory in Game 1
Elsewhere, the Connecticut Sun beat the Minnesota Lynx 73-70 in the first game of their best-of-five semifinal.
Marina Mabrey scored a game-high 20 points and Alyssa Thomas nearly had a triple double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Sun claimed victory in a close affair.
Lynx star Napheesa Collier was just named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and having a monster series against the Phoenix Mercury, led the way in the losing effort with 19 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a block.
In the end, the Sun’s defense was the difference and coach Stephanie White was happy to see her team excel on that end of the court.
“That’s exactly what our group does. This is a team and a franchise that hung their hat on defense,” White told reporters.
“We had to be disruptive. We had to try to force them to make uncomfortable shots.
Game 2 is Tuesday as Minnesota looks to tie the game.
“It’s a long series for a reason. We have all the faith in the world that we’re going to do better Tuesday night and hopefully get a win,” Lynx forward Bridget Carleton said after scoring 17 points in the loss.
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