MINNEAPOLIS — After shootaround Wednesday morning, Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu went again to the spot the place she made the most important shot of her profession.
Ionescu discovered it on the court docket after which regarded on the basket, which stood 28 toes from the place she was.
“I used to be simply to this point,” she advised The Submit. “I don't know why I shot that far.”
That shot — the game-winner that Ionescu drilled to say Recreation 3 of the 2024 WNBA Finals in Minnesota — goes down as one of many biggest baskets in Liberty historical past.
It's maybe second to solely Teresa Weatherspoon's 50-foot Hail Mary heave on the buzzer that saved New York from a sweep within the 1999 WNBA Finals.
“It was an epic shot and a shot that we've seen Sabrina do, however not in a sport,” Brondello mentioned earlier than the Liberty's 100-93 loss to the Lynx wherein Ionescu scored 31 factors.
It was onerous within the instant aftermath of that sport to know the gravity of the shot that put the Liberty up 2-1 within the best-of-five collection.
Even Ionescu didn't totally comprehend at the moment “how essential that shot was.”
However that shot could have saved the collection for the Liberty.
“If you look again on it, with out that play, they is probably not champions,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve mentioned. “It was that huge.”
Wednesday was the Liberty's first journey again to Goal Middle since Recreation 3 and 4 of the Finals, and Ionescu allowed herself a quick second to relish in that reminiscence. She additionally replicated her most iconic shot to complete off her morning shootaround.
“I've watched it so many occasions,” she mentioned. “However yeah, on to the following one.”
This grueling stretch of the Liberty's season, the place the group is taking part in six video games in 10 days, caught as much as Natasha Cloud.
Cloud began to fall sick earlier than the Liberty's sport in opposition to the Wings Monday.
She felt worse Tuesday as she handled chilly sweats, fever, chills and head congestion.
Cloud was downgraded to questionable Wednesday morning. She stayed in mattress as an alternative of going to shootaround, however Cloud knew she was going to play no matter how she felt.
“It was by no means not an choice for me to play at this time, particularly with this sport and being down numbers,” mentioned Cloud, who had 12 factors, seven assists, 4 rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes. “This was a great reset day for us. I do know we didn't come out with a W within the win column, however behind the scenes, down three starters, with out Emma, I'll take shedding by eight to a group that I really feel like gave their every thing tonight.”
With the Liberty-Lynx sport airing on ESPN, dozens of followers held up “Pay the Gamers” indicators to point out their solidarity with the Ladies's Nationwide Basketball Gamers' Affiliation as negotiations for a brand new collective bargaining settlement proceed.
“[The fans] need us to be compensated for it and us as gamers, we're gonna proceed to combat to get our fair proportion of the pie,” Isabelle Harrison mentioned. “And that's a dialog that lasts even after All-Star [weekend].”
