NEW YORK – Sabrina Ionescu scored 24 points and the New York Liberty defeated the Las Vegas Aces 88-84 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.

Game 3 is Friday night in Las Vegas, with the two-time defending champion Aces trying to avoid being eliminated by the team they defeated in last year’s WNBA Finals.

No team has recovered from a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-five playoff series in WNBA postseason history. And only the Phoenix Mercury could force a Game 5 against the Seattle Storm in 2018.

The game was tied at 81 before Ionescu hit a jumper with 1:15 to go, giving New York a two-point lead. Both teams had chances before Ionescu fouled Tiffany Hayes with 16.9 seconds left on a jump ball.

Hayes hit the first of two free throws to make it a one-point game. New York secured the rebound and Ionescu was fouled with 11.6 seconds left and also hit just one free throw to make it 84-82.

Las Vegas had a chance to tie the game, but the ball went out of bounds on the sideline with 10.5 seconds to play – and after New York disputed the call that it was the Aces’ ball, the officials overturned the decision and gave the Liberty the ball.

Ionescu then hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game. A’ja Wilson answered with a jumper with 5.6 seconds left before Breanna Stewart hit two free throws less than a second later to seal the victory.

Stewart finished with 15 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds for the Liberty.

Wilson scored 24 points for the Aces, and Jackie Young added 17.

The Liberty led 69-62 heading into the final period before the Aces rallied behind Wilson and tied the score at 81 on Alysha Clark’s 3-pointer with 1:31 remaining.

After a rough start in Game 1, the Aces jumped out to a 27-22 lead after the first quarter after a strong 10-minute opening from Chelsea Gray. She had just four points in the Game 1 loss, and Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon had said she would have a conversation with her star guard. Gray responded by coming out aggressively in the first quarter with 10 points.

The teams went back and forth early, and Las Vegas led 40-37 with 2:33 left in the half before Ionescu hit two three-pointers sandwiched around a three-point play by Liberty forward Kayla Thornton to give New York the 46-40 . lead at the break, with loud cheers from the sold-out crowd, including Carmelo Anthony, Alicia Keys, Robin Roberts, Colin Kaepernick and Gayle King.

Liberty great Teresa Weatherspoon was also in the crowd. She was fired as coach by Chicago Sky last week. Weatherspoon received a very loud ovation from the fans when she appeared on the video screen in the fourth quarter.

It’s not just fans who come to watch the series in person. Game 1 averaged 929,000 viewers on TV. It was the most watched WNBA semifinal in 22 years.

The Aces lost center Kiah Stokes with 9.5 seconds left in the third quarter. She chased a loose ball out of bounds and went hard after committing a loose ball foul. She lay there for a few minutes before being helped back to the locker room. The team said she suffered a possible concussion.