Sabrina Ionescu leads Liberty past Mystics, New York’s first home playoff win since 2015
NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu scored 29 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, to help the New York Liberty beat the Washington Mystics 90-75 in Game 1 of their WNBA playoff matchup on Friday night.
Jonquel Jones added 20 points and 12 rebounds to give New York its first home playoff victory since 2015. Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Tuesday night in New York.
Ionescu scored eight points in the third quarter, including the final five of the period with a deep 3-pointer and then a floater in the lane just before the buzzer to give New York a 69-57 advantage.
Myisha Hines-Allen scored a playoff career-high 21 points for the Mystics.
Breanna Stewart, the Associated Press Player of the Year, had a rough night for the Liberty, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting.
WINGS 94, DREAM 82
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Satou Sabally scored 32 points, Arike Ogunbowale had 24 and Dallas rallied from an early deficit to beat Atlanta in the opener of a best-of-three series.
Teaira McCowan had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Wings, who trailed 36-21 after the first quarter. She scored on a putback in the fourth quarter to give Dallas the lead for good.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Dallas.
Rhyne Howard, the top pick in last year’s draft, finished with 36 points for the Dream, who were playing in the postseason for the first time since 2018. Howard went 13 of 29 from the field and 8 of 15 from 3-point range.