AP Recap

<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Alyssa Thomas had a 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in her fifth career playoff triple-double, and the Phoenix Mercury advanced to the second round of the WNBA playoffs by eliminating the defending champion New York Liberty 79-73 in Game 3 on Friday night.</p>
<p>Satou Sabally added 23 points and 12 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Mercury, who play at top-seeded Minnesota on Sunday to start the best-of-five semifinal round.</p>
<p>Thomas has five of the seven WNBA playoff triple-doubles.</p>
<p>Sami Whitcomb scored 13 points and Kahleah Copper had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Mercury, who had a 49-33 advantage on the boards. DeWanna Bonner had eight rebounds to pass Candace Parker for the most boards in playoff history with 614.</p>
<p>Breanna Stewart, five days after spraining the MCL in her left knee in overtime of a Game 1 win, scored 30 points, including the last 14 in the fourth quarter for the Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu added 22 but the rest of the Liberty struggled.</p>
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<div id="s4rinhyii4" class="fs-feed-ad" data-freestar-ad="__336x280 __336x280" data-google-query-id="CIW1ysWc648DFWkIigMdtAkUjw">There were five ties and 13 lead changes through three quarters, which ended with Phoenix on top 60-59, but New York never led in the fourth.</div>
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<p>Stewart’s three-point play had the Liberty within 65-64 with 6:51 to play. But Thomas had a basket, two assists and a rebound to get her ninth triple-double of this season, as the Mercury surged ahead 72-64 with 5:36 to play.</p>
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<p>Stewart made two free throws — she was 12 of 15 from the line — to make it 76-73 with 1:10 to play. The Liberty had a turnover and three misses in the last minute and finished 7 of 32 from 3-point range, including 1 for 17 in the second half.</p>
<p>The Mercury led by 12 in the second quarter but with Ionescu scoring 12 points the Liberty cut it to 45-41 at halftime.</p>
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Sabrina Ionescu with 22 Points vs. Phoenix Mercury

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New York Liberty vs. Phoenix Mercury - Game Highlights

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Top 10 Plays of the Week

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<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Natasha Cloud scored 23 points, Breanna Stewart added 18 before hurting her knee in overtime and the New York Liberty beat the Phoenix Mercury 76-69 on Sunday in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round playoff series.</p>
<p>New York will advance to the semifinals with a win in Game 2 on Wednesday in New York.</p>
<p>Stewart fell to the the ground and grabbed at her left knee after making a layup with 3:01 to play in overtime. She stayed in the game and missed the free throw, trying to play through the injury. She left the game about a minute later and didn’t return.</p>
<p>New York coach Sandy Brondello had no update on Stewart’s injury after the game. The New York star had a bone bruise in her other knee in late July that forced her to miss about a month of the season.</p>
<p>Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 15 points and Alyssa Thomas had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. DeWanna Bonner added 12 points.</p>
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<div id="ek2fr9mtno" class="fs-feed-ad" data-freestar-ad="__336x280 __336x280" data-google-query-id="CJyc2rTd2Y8DFbKzWgUdzUIDIw">Cloud hit a 3-pointer to open the OT and spark an 8-0 run that made it 73-65 with 1:51 left. Phoenix got within four, but Leonie Fiebich, who finished with 10 points, hit a huge 3-pointer to seal the win.</div>
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<p>Cloud, who played in Phoenix last season, made back-to-back layups to give the Liberty a two-point lead with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter. Copper answered with two free throws and, after a turnover by Sabrina Ionescu, Thomas dropped a no-look pass to Copper for a wide-open layup that gave the Mercury a 65-63 lead with 1:44 remaining.</p>
<p>Stewart then made a tough basket in the lane 13 seconds later that eventually forced overtime.</p>
<p>The Liberty, who averaged 13.8 turnovers in the regular season, finished with 20 turnovers — one shy of their season high — which included 14 after halftime.</p>
<p>The Mercury made 25 of 77 (33%) from the field and shot 23% (6 of 26) from 3-point range.</p>
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Latest

Sabrina Ionescu

<div class="ewa-rteLine">• All-WNBA Second Team (2022)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">• WNBA All-Star (2022)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">• No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft (New York)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">• Tallied WNBA’s First-Ever Triple-Double in under Three Quarters vs Chicago (6/12/22)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">• Recorded First-Ever 30-Plus Point Triple-Double on at Las Vegas (7/6/22)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">• Fastest Player to Record a Triple-Double in WNBA History in Just Sixth Career Game (23 years, 163 days) vs Minnesota (5/18/21)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">• First Player in WNBA History to Record 500+ Points, 200+ Rebounds and 200+ Assists in a Single Season</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">• Fastest Liberty Draftee to Eclipse 1,000-Career Point Mark (66 games)</div>


Sabrina Ionescu signed a Contract Amendment - Time-Off Bonus with the New York Liberty.