Liberty\u2019s 100-93 loss to the Lynx<\/a> in which Ionescu scored 31 points. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t executed perfectly, but the idea was to get a high [isolation] with Sabrina. It was such a grind all season long. We\u2019re trying to keep as many people out of it as we could and just rely on her individual brilliance and she made a shot that we\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\nIonescu said it was a shot she\u2019s practiced for a long time, which is why she was so confident to take it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI practiced [and] drilled it again all offseason, make sure I can shoot it, and feel good about it consistently in those situations,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the first time I made a shot like that so just kind of knowing, it\u2019s part of my practice and preparation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonquel Jones said she has the worst memory of anyone on the Liberty. But she recalled the thoughts that were racing through her mind as the ball tickled to twine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just remember just being like, \u2018Oh my gosh. She actually did that,\u2019\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnd then, I started thinking about, like, \u2018Damn. She got some big balls on her to take that type of shot \u2026 in that type of game \u2026 Oh my gosh, we\u2019re one step closer [to winning a title] and off such an amazing shot.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) celebrates her team\u2019s win after Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Lynx at Target Center. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con<\/p>\n
It was hard in the immediate aftermath of that game to understand the gravity of the shot that put the Liberty up 2-1 in the best-of-five series.<\/p>\n
Even Ionescu didn\u2019t fully comprehend at that time \u201chow important that shot was.\u201d <\/p>\n
But that shot may have saved the series for the Liberty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look back on it, without that play, they may not be champions,\u201d Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. \u201cIt was that big.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday was the Liberty\u2019s first trip back to Target Center since Game 3 and 4 of the Finals, and Ionescu allowed herself a brief moment to relish in that memory. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou get all of those feelings and emotions back when you step back into a building like this,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also kind of like, turning the page and knowing what you did last year isn\u2019t good enough this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabrina Ionescu drives on Alana Smith during the Liberty\u2019s loss to the Lynx. Brad Rempel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
As her teammates started to head their separate areas after taking turns throwing half-court heaves, Ionescu returned to the scene of the crime and replicated her most iconic shot to finish off her morning shootaround.<\/p>\n
\u201cReenacting it was fun,\u201d Ionescu said.<\/p>\n
It took two or three tries before she drilled it, though she noted that she was a little cold and not in game mode.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve watched it so many times,\u201d she said. \u201cBut yeah, on to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
This grueling stretch of the Liberty\u2019s season, where the team is playing six games in 10 days, caught up to Natasha Cloud.<\/p>\n
Cloud started to fall ill before the Liberty\u2019s game against the Wings Monday. <\/p>\n
She felt worse Tuesday as she dealt with cold sweats, fever, chills and head congestion.<\/p>\n
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Cloud was downgraded to questionable Wednesday morning. She stayed in bed instead of going to shootaround, but Cloud knew she was going to play regardless of how she felt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was never not an option for me to play today, especially with this game and being down numbers,\u201d said Cloud, who had 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes. \u201cThis was a good reset day for us. I know we didn\u2019t come out with a W in the win column, but behind the scenes, down three starters, without Emma, I\u2019ll take losing by eight to a team that I feel like gave their everything tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Liberty-Lynx game airing on ESPN, dozens of fans held up \u201cPay the Players\u201d signs to show their solidarity with the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players\u2019 Association as negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement continue.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The fans] want us to be compensated for it and us as players, we\u2019re gonna continue to fight to get our fair share of the pie,\u201d Isabelle Harrison said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a conversation that lasts even after All-Star [weekend].\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 After shootaround Wednesday morning, Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu went back to the spot where she made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,736,3457,4644,82,630],"class_list":["post-37018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-minnesota-lynx","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-sabrina-ionescu","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}