B/R
The highest seed within the WNBA playoffs is enjoying like a prime seed.
The New York Liberty completed their first-round sweep of the eighth-seeded Atlanta Dream with a 91-82 victory on Tuesday at Barclays Heart. It got here as little shock, because the Liberty have their eyes on the WNBA title and defeated the Dream in three of their 4 regular-season matchups.
In addition they cruised to a commanding 83-69 win in Sport 1.
New York took care of enterprise, and the two-time reigning champion Las Vegas Aces did the identical within the second sport of Tuesday’s double-header, taking down the Seattle Storm 83-76 on their dwelling court docket.
Las Vegas is making an attempt to grow to be the primary WNBA group to win three straight championships for the reason that Houston Comets received the league’s first 4 titles from 1997 by 2000, and it took step one towards doing so with a sweep of the Storm.
Here’s a take a look at Tuesday’s outcomes and schedule.
WNBA Playoffs Tuesday Scores and Schedule
- No. 1 New York Liberty defeat No. 8 Atlanta Dream, 91-82
- No. 4 Las Vegas Aces defeat No. 5 Seattle Storm, 83-76
New York Liberty 91, Atlanta Dream 82
The Liberty have been absolutely on the lookout for an easy win so they might begin specializing in the following spherical, however the Dream missed the memo.
The truth is, the guests jumped out to a double-digit lead within the first half with Allisha Grey catching hearth from deep. Whereas New York battled again to take the lead within the second quarter, Atlanta didn’t go away and reestablished a five-point lead at intermission earlier than a back-and-forth second half.
In the end, although, the Liberty had an excessive amount of firepower.
Sabrina Ionescu was unstoppable on her solution to 36 factors, 9 assists, and three steals behind 12-of-23 capturing from the sector and 5-of-11 capturing from deep. She drilled back-to-back three-pointers to take the lead in the course of the fourth quarter after which assisted Leonie Fiebich for a important and-1 as the house group began to grab management.
WNBA @WNBA
Appeared up the definition of COOKIN’ within the dictionary and it was a photograph of Sabrina Ionescu 🤌
30 PTS and counting for the @nyliberty guard, securing a brand new playoff profession excessive
ATL-NYL on ESPN 📺 | #WNBAPlayoffs offered by @Google pic.twitter.com/7u26AKkpat
Ionescu wasn’t alone, as Jonquel Jones (20 factors, 13 rebounds, two steals and one block on 8-of-12 capturing from the sector) notched a double-double whereas Breanna Stewart added 13 factors and 6 boards.
Atlanta obtained 26 factors behind 5-of-8 capturing from deep from Grey, in addition to a box-score-stuffing exhibiting from Rhyne Howard (19 factors, 5 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks).
Nonetheless, it wasn’t sufficient down the stretch.
Ionescu managed the tempo even when she wasn’t immediately scoring and aiding and fittingly put the sport away on the free-throw line as the gang rewarded her with MVP chants.
Aces 83, Storm 76
A’ja Wilson and the two-time defending champions are shifting on to the following spherical.
The Aces defeated the Storm 83-76 on Tuesday evening at Michelob Extremely Area to brush their method into the semifinals, the place they’ll meet the No. 1-seeded Liberty.
Amid a forwards and backwards battle between among the WNBA’s greatest, the Aces have been in a position to shut out their first-round collection towards the Storm courtesy of veterans like Wilson and Kelsey Plum.
Wilson, the 2024 WNBA MVP, completed Tuesday’s contest with 24 factors, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks whereas Plum tacked on a team-high 29 factors to go together with six rebounds and three assists.
Jackie Younger and Chelsea Grey have been simply as necessary to the group’s success as they mixed for 21 factors within the win.
Whereas the Storm had a tricky process going up towards the defending champs, Gabby Williams and Nneka Ogwumike did all they might to assist Seattle try and maintain its 2024 season alive.
Williams notched 20 factors, 5 rebounds and three assists whereas Ogwumike completed with 16 factors, 10 rebounds and one help.
Skylar Diggins-Smith and Ezi Magbegor additionally contributed 27 factors, however Jewell Loyd completed with simply 9 factors, a far cry from the 19.7 factors she averaged throughout the common season.
With the Aces shifting on to face a tricky New York group that completed the common season with a 32-8 file, the Aces will proceed to depend on Wilson and Plum in a rematch of final 12 months’s WNBA Finals within the subsequent spherical towards the Liberty
