NEW YORK — Jonquel Jones scored 29 points and the New York Liberty beat the winless Washington Mystics 93-88 on Sunday to clinch homecourt in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game.
The Liberty, who won the Commissioner’s Cup last season, will host the Commissioner’s Cup title game on June 25. New York, which has won seven straight games, will play the top team in the Western Conference cup standings.
New York (11-2) came through a grueling stretch with five games in eight days, including winning back-to-back contests on Saturday and Sunday.
The Liberty led by two heading into the fourth quarter before they extended the lead to 86-79 with 4:03 left on a putback by Jones. Washington scored the only basket over the next 2:30 minutes until Sabrina Ionescu hit a 10-foot floater from the wing that made it 88-81 with 1:30 left.
Washington (0-12) scored the next five points and only trailed 88-86 with 24 seconds left. Ionescu hit the second of two free throws to make it a three-point game.
Jade Melbourne made a layup to bring Washington within one. New York then found Jones for a wide-open layup after breaking the Mystics’ press with just over eight seconds left. Melbourne had a chance to tie the game but missed a 3-pointer from the wing.
Washington has lost nine of its 12 games by…
