Sabrina Ionescu Made It Seem Like Liberty Were Sleeping on Lynx After Brutal Loss

The New York Liberty suffered a devastating loss to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday.

The Liberty ended up losing in overtime by a score of 95-93 after certified Minnesota superstar Napheesa Collier drained a midrange jumper as the game clock was winding down.

Napheesa Collier. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/wzv9cPA1XB
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) October 11, 2024

But the most heartbreaking aspect of this loss was that New York was beating Minnesota by over 15 points with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Per ESPN Stats and Info, "[The Lynx] are the first team in WNBA postseason history to win a game after trailing by 15+ points in the final five minutes of regulation

"Entering tonight, teams were 0-183 in that scenario".

Per @ESPNStatsInfo: The Lynx trailed by 15 points with fewer than five minutes remaining

They are the first team in WNBA postseason history to win a game after trailing by 15+ points in the final five minutes of regulation

Entering tonight, teams were 0-183 in that scenario

🤯
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) October 11, 2024

It's hard to conceive how the Liberty let this one slip away. However, a postgame quote from star guard Sabrina Ionescu may suggest that the Liberty weren't taking this matchup as seriously as they should have.

"We'll respond, that's for sure," Ionescu said when reporter Ros Gold-Onwude asked how she could lean on her team's resilience after the loss, per the Good Follow Show. "I think we all knew we weren't gonna go clean sweep and win. Obviously, we wanted to protect home court. And it sucks to lose in the way that we did. But I know that we're going to respond.

"And if they didn't have our attention before, they have it now," Ionescu added.

“If they didn’t have our attention before, they have it now.” 👀@ROSGO21 catches up with Sabrina Ionescu after the @nyliberty loss to the @minnesotalynx on Game 1 @wnba Finals! #wnba #wnbafinals #minnesotalynx #nyliberty pic.twitter.com/l1tFuQ8NM6
— Good Follow (@GoodFollowShow) October 11, 2024

While she likely didn't mean to imply that the Liberty were overlooking the Lynx before Game 1 — especially because Minnesota held a 3-1 record against the Liberty before Thursday's game — this comment is still sure to turn heads.