A few days before the start of the Women’s All-Star Weekend, the WNBA decided to end in style before the truce with a beautiful poster opposing the Las Vegas Aces, second in the regular season, to the New York Liberty, ninth following a complicated start to the season. but who intends to hang the Playoffs. As expected, the match was spectacular, stars like A’Ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu shone and beautiful records were broken.
And yes, to see basketball in Nevada, you don’t necessarily have to wait for the Summer League or the start of the UNLV college season. The Aces have been present in Vegas since 2018, and have since been one of the sensations of the US women’s league. Their best player, A’Ja Wilson, was voted MVP in 2020 just two years following her Draft, and Kelsey Plum, sixth woman of the year in 2021, even won gold in Tokyo in 3×3. An armada which was thus preparing yesterday to face the best player of the month for June in the East, Sabrina Ionescu, and her team which is recovering little by little from a catastrophic start to the season but which is ready to snatch the eighth and last qualifying spot for the Playoffs. According to the standings, the match should not send dreams, but there are future All-Stars on the ground, and the match was ultimately incredible. Aja Morant Wilson and her teammates respond in a very offensive poster, but it is the Liberty who will take over and who will leave the Michelob Ultra Arena with the victory. The leader of New York? She leads the dance with a performance at 31 pawns with a nice 7/8 from the parking lot, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 36 minutes of play. A triple-double ok, his third in his career, but above all the first 30-plus-point triple-double in WNBA history.
But in a game full of records, the spotlight shone brightest on Sabrina Ionescu ✨
Her impressive night ⤵️
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— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 7, 2022
After becoming the only player in history to put more than 25 points at 90% success, 8 rebounds and 8 assists on a meeting barely a month ago, Sab’ continues to break records even though she is only in her third WNBA season, even… second because she only played three games during her rookie year because of an ankle injury. But the triple-double record with the most points is not the only one she decided to challenge last night. She also took the opportunity to tie the most triple-doubles in career, but also to register the best total of shots from a distance in a game by a Liberty player, tied with Crystal Robinson. This match between Liberty and Aces was grandiose, and can even be marked with a white stone, so many records were broken last night. With 226 points in total, 31 shots from the parking lot combined and 18 ties in score – which has never been seen before – we can say that the match knew how to keep the spectators in suspense. This New York – Las Vegas has also become the only game where ten players have returned at least two 3-pointers. Simply huge. For the tricolor record point, Marine Johannès took advantage of the meeting to establish a new career-high with 9 assists, the same for Iliana Rupert and her 13 points which became the best scoring performance of her WNBA career.
But where will Sabrina Ionescu stop? She has in any case apparently decided to break at least one record per month at only 24 years old, and the season is still far from over. What is certain following witnessing such a performance is that following the retirement of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, the WNBA will be in good hands.
Source texte : Across The Timeline
