Tuesday was more or less just another day in the office for the Liberty, who tormented the lowly Chicago Sky from start to finish in their 85-66 win at Barclays Center.
Sabrina Ionescu scored a game-high 23 points and had seven assists and Breanna Stewart added 18 points and seven rebounds as the defending champions extended their best start in franchise history to 9-0.
The Sky never really stood a chance.
They’ve been out of sorts all season and have the second-worst offense and defense in the league.
To add insult to injury, Tuesday was the Sky’s first full game without Courtney Vandersloot, who suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear in Saturday’s loss to the Indiana Fever.
The Liberty are too experienced, too talented and too deep for a team like Chicago to contain.
Meanwhile, the Sky aren’t any of that.
Even without Jonquel Jones (right ankle sprain), the Liberty made it look easy Tuesday night.
The Liberty opened the game by scoring 12 unanswered points. It was the start of what would be a long night for the Sky.
The Liberty offense carved up the Sky defense.
Finding open lanes for easy layups and knocking down eight shots from behind the arc.
Angel Reese scored a season-high 17 points and had 11 rebounds.
But outside of her, the Sky had no answers for the Liberty’s dominance.
Chicago did win the battle of the boards in the first half, outrebounding the Liberty 21-12. But that didn’t really matter because New York had a 20-point advantage at the break.
The Liberty’s lead ballooned to as many as 34 points.
During a timeout in the fourth quarter, Jones pumped up the Barclays Center crowd by waving a rally towel in the air to the beat of “Ride That Wave” by DJ Frosty.
Tuesday was the fifth time this season the Liberty won by at least 19 points.