Sabrina Ionescu, the pride of Miramonte High School, was not playing well leading up to the final minute of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. But history will not remember how her first 39 minutes transpired.
No, history will remember Ionescu hitting one of the most momentous shots in WNBA Finals history — a step-back, 28-foot, crowd-silencing go-ahead three-pointer with one second, exactly, remaining.
It was a shot that gave the New York Liberty an 80-77 win over the Minnesota Lynx. It was a shot that put the Liberty one win away from their first title in franchise history.
“I had to go look at the video really quickly to see how far I was,” Ionescu told reporters, adding: “Sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve practiced that shot a thousand times in my head, on the court, and I feel like that’s just something that as athletes, you put yourself in that position to want to be able to make a shot.”
Ionescu called it the “biggest shot of my career and hopefully not the last.”
It was a shot that will go down as one of the best in the history of New York City basketball, period.
“What I love about her is that she backs herself,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “Not everyone can take those big shots and make them. She can.”
Before knocking down the game-winner, Ionescu hit another audacious step-back moments earlier. With less than a minute remaining, the Liberty leading by one point, Ionescu took a screen from Breanna Stewart and flowed right into a three-pointer over superstar Napheesa Collier, extending New York’s lead.
Minnesota found its way back into the game following Ionescu’s three-pointer. Bridget Carleton hit a layup to bring the Lynx within two points, then Collier tied the game by converting a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left. All of which served to set up the biggest shot of Ionescu’s career so far.
“Got the space that I needed to get my feet under me and felt comfortable taking that shot,” Ionescu told reporters.
Now, Ionescu stands just one win away from capping off one of the greatest calendar years by any basketball player this millennium. She battled Stephen Curry in an unprecedented three-point contest at All-Star Weekend. She won a gold medal with Team USA at the Summer Olympics. She averaged a career-high 18.2 points per game during the regular season. Just for kicks, she released her second signature shoe, too.
All that said, there is one slight omission.
Prior to Game 3, the WNBA released the five players selected to its All-WNBA First Team. The list included unanimous selections in the Aces’ A’ja Wilson and the Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, as well Ionescu’s teammate Breanna Stewart, the Fever’s rookie sensation Caitlin Clark and the Sun’s Alyssa Thomas.
As for Ionescu? She was relegated to the All-WNBA Second Team. When asked about the snub after the game, Ionescu didn’t shy away from a little pettiness.
“That was just a great All-WNBA Second Team Performance,” Ionescu said with a smile.
Ionescu’s shot instantly becomes one of the greatest in WNBA Finals history, but the honor of the greatest still belongs to Teresa Weatherspoon’s halfcourt buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the 1999 WNBA Finals. Simply referred to as “The Shot,” Weatherspoon’s heave gave the Liberty a 68-67 win over the Houston Comets, who would’ve completed a three-peat had the shot banked out.
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