Liberty earn important win over Mercury in game with playoff-like feel

Sabrina Ionescu poured in 29 points and Jonquel Jones added 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Liberty to a thrilling 89-76 win against the Mercury on Friday night at Barclays Center.

It might have been a late July game — and only the Liberty’s second contest after the All-Star break — but Friday’s duel against the Mercury had a playoff feel.

Then again, a win for each team meant something more than just another tally in the “W” column.

The Liberty, who dropped their first two meetings against the Mercury, needed a win to prevent Phoenix from taking the season series and playoff tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts viewed this game as a measuring stick to see how his team — now healthy with Kahleah Copper back in the lineup — stacked up against one of the league’s best teams.

The Barclays Center crowd — a strong 17,000-plus — fueled the playoff atmosphere by clacking their rainbow Liberty fans and were engaged and loud the entire “Pride Night.”

The Liberty put the pedal to the metal over the final 11 minutes of the game, leading to the Liberty’s fifth straight win.

The Liberty (17-6) remain in second place in the WNBA standings, sitting 3 ½ games behind the first-place Lynx (22-4) and 3 ½ games ahead of the third-place Mercury (15-9.)

Offensively, the Liberty were in sync and generating good looks all game. They were just missing shots early that normally they would make.

Defensively, they had some lapses against a tough Mercury team and trailed by as many as 12 in the first half.

But the Liberty — as they’ve done numerous times before — found a way to dig themselves out of the double-digit hole.

The score was tied at halftime, setting the stage for the second half to be a game within itself.

The Mercury might’ve punched first out of the break, but the Liberty got the last laugh.

Jones, Ionescu and team defense fueled the Liberty on a 7-0 run over the last minute of the third quarter that gave them their largest lead of the game to that point.

Ionescu drained a deep 3. Then, on the other end of the floor, Natasha Cloud helped Kennedy Burke frustrate Satou Sabally and stripped the ball away.

Jones punctuated the Liberty’s rally by banking in a long two-pointer at the buzzer to give the Liberty a 67-59 lead entering the fourth.

What once looked like a nail-biter ended up being a comfortable win for the Liberty.

The Liberty and Mercury are scheduled to play each other once more this season, Aug. 30 in Phoenix in a game that could have playoff implications.