Liberty beat Aces in thriller to move within win from WNBA Finals return

No team in WNBA history ever has come back from an 0-2 hole in a five-game playoff series, and the Liberty definitely understood that assignment Tuesday night.

They also understand they have a long way to go.

The league’s No. 1 seed held on and held serve on its home court, seizing a 2-0 lead in this semifinal series in its quest to avenge last year’s WNBA Finals loss to the nemesis Aces with a nail-biting, 88-84 Game 2 victory over its rivals at Barclays Center.

“Being up 2-0 is great, but we haven’t won anything yet. I think everyone knows that,” Sabrina Ionescu said, with a looming series shift to Las Vegas for Game 3 on Friday. “We did what we’re supposed to do, which is protect home court and win two at home.

“But it’s not like we’re patting ourselves on the back and celebrating, talking about how happy we are. This isn’t what we came to do.”

Leading scorer Breanna Stewart followed up her 34-point effort in the opener with only 15 points but added a season-high eight assists and two game-sealing free throws in the final seconds.

Ionescu overcame a slow shooting start to finish with a team-best 24 points, and Jonquel Jones contributed 14 points and eight rebounds.

Former starter Courtney Vandersloot added 12 off the bench for the Liberty, who totaled 22 points off 13 turnovers by the Aces.

“It was extremely intense. It’s a team that’s chasing a championship. Both of us are,” Jones said. “It’s playoff basketball. It’s physical, and it’s exhausting.”

Aces star and league MVP A’ja Wilson netted only six points in the first half before finishing with a team-high 24. Jackie Young scored 17 and Chelsea Gray had 14 for Las Vegas, but Kelsey Plum was held to six points on 2-for-9 shooting.

“It was Aces vs. Aces tonight,” said Vegas coach Becky Hammon, the former Liberty star from 1999-2006. “We were beating ourselves.”

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello admitted beforehand that she was unaware of the statistical history regarding WNBA teams overcoming an 0-2 series hole, but she stressed she was only worried about winning Tuesday night.

“It’d be nice to go to Vegas two up,” she said.

The opposite happened one year ago, of course, when the Liberty dropped the first two games of the finals in Las Vegas before losing the championship series in four games.

In the opening quarter of Game 2, Plum drew two quick fouls and Wilson scored only two points, but the Aces led still 27-22 through one as Alysha Clark scored eight.

The Libs stepped up the defensive intensity and forced two early turnovers in the second — of the Aces’ 11 in the half — leading to layups by Jones and Kayla Thornton off assists by Stewart for a one-point game.

Tiffany Hayes netted six straight points for the Aces for the eighth of ninth lead changes in the half. The last one came on the strength of Ionescu’s first two 3-pointers sandwiched around a three-point play by Jones as the Liberty led, 46-40, at intermission.

Stewart registered two assists and a layup early in the third to extend the cushion to 10.

The Aces trimmed it back to four on two 3-pointers by Young, but Vandersloot added a key blocked shot on Young and sank a left-side trey as the Liberty held a seven-point advantage entering the final quarter.

The Aces drew within three on five straight points by Wilson to open the fourth, however, and they finally tied it on a Clark corner-3 with 1:31 to go.

After Ionescu dropped in a 15-foot jumper to retake the lead, Hayes missed one of two free throws with 16.2 seconds left.

Ionescu also made 1 of 2 for a 84-82 lead, and she sank two more with 8.2 ticks on the clock after a Brondello challenge was ruled to be a turnover by Gray at the other end.

“It was getting a little stressful there, but I trust that we can remain poised in those moments and make appropriate plays,” Brondello said afterward. “Sabrina was massive down the stretch there. … Now, we go on the road, and we’ll get locked in.”