Liberty vs. Mercury: Sabrina Ionescu's 27 and 10 Lift New York Past Phoenix 94-92 After 10-Point Hole

With 24.1 seconds left on Saturday at Mortgage Matchup Center, DeWanna Bonner buried a three, the Phoenix crowd came out of its seats, and a New York Liberty lead that had been eight less than a minute earlier was down to two. Liberty fans have seen this movie before. Lately they've seen it weekly.

New York survived anyway. Sabrina Ionescu's 27 points and 10 assists, 17 off the bench from Han Xu and a perfect 19 of 19 at the foul line carried the Liberty to a 94-92 win over the Phoenix Mercury. They trailed by 10 in the third quarter, which, according to the team, makes this their fourth comeback from at least eight down to win over the past five games, a first in franchise history.

Big Lead, Bigger Hole, Bigger Finish

The Liberty came out looking like they wanted this finished by halftime. They opened on an 11-1 run, held Phoenix to 4 of 16 shooting in the first quarter and led 26-15 after one. The margin got as high as 13 before the Mercury woke up, starting with an 8-0 run that turned 37-25 into 37-33. New York's halftime lead was down to 46-43.

Then Phoenix took the game away from them. A 17-4 stretch through the middle of the third included 12 straight points that flipped a 52-50 New York lead into a 62-52 Phoenix edge. With under two minutes left in the quarter, New York was still down 10 and the building was feeling it.

The Liberty closed the period on a 12-1 run. Just like that, it was 66-65 New York heading to the fourth, and the final 10 minutes became a shootout that New York won from long range: 10 of 17 from the field and 4 of 5 from three. Han's 25-foot step-back at 4:06 made it 82-75, Ionescu's 28-footer at 2:09 made it 87-81, and Rebecca Allen's three at 1:10 made it 92-84. That should have been that.

Ionescu Ran the Whole Show

Ionescu's line was 9 of 19 from the field, 4 of 10 from three and 5 of 5 at the line, with seven rebounds and a season-high 10 assists. The team says only two players before her in WNBA history got to 500 threes inside their first 200 career games, and this was her fourth time stacking 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in one game. No one else in league history has done that more than twice.

The surprise co-star was Han. With Jonquel Jones in foul trouble, she scored 11 points in nine first-half minutes and finished 6 of 9 overall, 3 of 6 from three, with six rebounds. That's a season high in points and her biggest scoring game since July 6, 2022, according to the Liberty. Bench scoring like that is how a team survives foul trouble to one of its stars.

Jones, when she got back on the floor, saved half her 16 for the fourth quarter and added nine rebounds and five assists. Breanna Stewart had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and her two blocks made her the franchise's all-time leader with 196, according to the team. She also reached 6,600 career points in her 321st game, the fastest anyone in WNBA history has gotten there.

Phoenix deserved a better fate. Bonner and Kahleah Copper had 25 apiece, Copper going 7 of 9 at the line and Bonner adding seven rebounds. Alyssa Thomas scored 17 with seven assists. The AP notes this was Bonner's 565th career WNBA game, tying her with Diana Taurasi for the second-most ever.

The 12-1 That Changed Everything

The Liberty's closing burst in the third quarter is the reason this game had a fun ending at all. Down 10 on the road with the crowd loud, they could have spent the fourth quarter playing out the string. They scored 12 of the last 13 points of the period instead, and the lead Phoenix had spent the quarter building was gone before anyone had finished talking about it.

The Mercury made them earn it at the very end. Copper's free throws, a make from Valeriane Ayayi and Bonner's three cut it to 92-90. Then Phoenix used up 11 seconds and two fouls, and Stewart stepped up with 12.7 seconds left and made both. Thomas scored with 4.2 seconds to go, but the clock ran out before Phoenix got another shot.

The Numbers That Saved New York

• 19 of 19 vs. 22 of 28: The foul line. New York didn't miss. Phoenix missed six in a two-point game.
• 37-23: The Liberty's rebounding edge, which helped produce a 16-5 advantage in second-chance points.
• 17 vs. 10: Total turnovers, with New York on the wrong end, one reason this got so close.
• 6 of 9: New York from three in the second half, its best 3-point percentage in any half this season, per the team.
• 5: Straight games with at least 94 points, the longest such streak in franchise history, according to the Liberty.

Three Straight Against Phoenix

New York moves to 17-13, 9-8 on the road, with four wins in its last five games and a 3-0 record against the Mercury this season. The Liberty head home for two straight against Seattle, starting Monday.

Phoenix falls to 11-19, 5-10 at home, with a three-game winning streak gone. The Mercury hit the road Monday for a four-game, seven-day trip that opens in Chicago.

Mission: Impossible, Again

Every Liberty game lately plays like the last 20 minutes of a Mission: Impossible movie. The plan falls apart, the alarm goes off, somebody ends up hanging off the side of something, and they still get out with the win. It's thrilling to watch and probably terrible for everyone's nerves. Five straight games of 94 or more points says this offense can keep pulling it off. Sooner or later, though, the Liberty might want to try leaving the building through the front door.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Team notes from the New York Liberty. Game context as reported by the Associated Press.