Mystics star Natasha Cloud's true feelings on Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty after talking 's**t'

20/09/2023 05:16

Don’t confuse Natasha Cloud’s burning competitive fire for disrespect. After her epic performance in her team’s season-ending loss to the New York Liberty, the Washington Mystics veteran expressed adoration for on-court rival Sabrina Ionescu and the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Cloud backed up her pre-game warning to New York of a “rude awakening” on Tuesday night, relentlessly hounding Ionescu across the floor at Barclays Center, occasionally letting dogged defense turn into direct confrontation with the Liberty star. Following Washington’s hard-fought 90-85 overtime loss, though, Cloud made sure to let Ionescu know she was just “playing the villain” while facing elimination.

“I know I talk s**t, I know I was in Sabrina’s stuff and took a few hard fouls. Even though I play that villain stuff in the game, I really…respect her as a player, enough to make her my primary focus in game two,” she said, per Alexa Philippou of ESPN.

Refusing to switch off Ionescu from the opening tip, Cloud hardly let her intense defensive effort blunt her impact on the other end. She finished Game 2 with 33 points, six rebounds, nine assists and four steals, receiving a standing ovation from a partisan Barclays Center crowd on her way to the postgame locker room.

“One of the best games of her career," Washington coach Eric Thibault said of Natasha Cloud. "Especially considering the way they were playing her and put the people on her. To do it on a stage like this was impressive."

Ionescu and the Liberty move on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they will face the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx.

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