Photo: Special to the NY Liberty 

By Richard Jean

Sabrina Ionescu scored a game-high 29 points, including six three-pointers in the second half, Jonquel Jones had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and the No.2 seed New York Liberty defeated the No.7 seed Washington Mystics 90-75 in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs at Barclays Center last Friday, September 15th. The Mystic led by 6 at the end of first quarter, but New York responded, outscoring Washington by 10 in the second to take a four-point advantage at intermission. In the third quarter, New York outpaced Washington 23-15 to take a twelve point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Mystics started the final quarter strong on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to half-a-dozen, but Ionescu immediately retorted, torching Washington’s momentum with back-to-back three-pointers, bringing the lead back to twelve with 6:43 left to play. New York maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way, securing their first home postseason victory since 2015.  Myisha Hines-Allen and Brittney Sykes led Washington with 21 and 16 points, respectively, in the defeat. New York returned to action on their homecourt against Washington in Game 2 of the best-of-three series this past Tuesday night hoping to end the series.