Sabrina Ionescu Jokes Her Mid-Game High Five with Spike Lee 'Felt Like New York Was Just Injected into My Veins’

If for some reason Sabrina Ionescu hadn’t yet felt at home in New York City over her first five seasons with the New York Liberty, she certainly does now.

Ionescu, 26, joked with reporters in a press conference shared by her team that she felt a supercharge of New York City pride after she received a high five from none other than famed filmmaker and New York basketball super fan Spike Lee in the middle of the Liberty’s series-clinching 91-82 win over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night.

"Spike Lee gave me a high five as I was going to take the ball out of bounds and I felt like New York was just, like, injected into my veins,” Ionescu laughed. “I was like, 'We're winning this.' ”

Ionescu’s teammate Jonquel Jones joked that the memorable moment, which happened during an in-bound play in the third quarter, was like watching the three-time WNBA All-Star become “Spiderwoman or something.”

The Walnut Creek, Calif. native scored a playoff career-high 36 points, tying a New York Liberty franchise record and helping send her team to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs. The Liberty are vying for their first WNBA Championship after falling to the Las Vegas Aces in the finals last season after leading the league with a 32-8 record in the regular season.

"We have unfinished business," said Jones, who added 20 points and 13 rebounds in her own dominating performance.

The Liberty will face the Aces in the next round of the playoffs, a rematch of last year’s WNBA finals, and they’ll likely continue drawing celebrities to the arena as the postseason carries forward.

Lee, who has become an almost expected presence on the sidelines during New York Knicks and now New York Liberty home games, wasn’t the only star who turned out for the hometown WNBA team's big win Tuesday night, either. 

ESPN reported that in addition to Lee sitting courtside, celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg, Pharell, Ja Rule, and Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas were in the crowd cheering New York on to the next round of the WNBA playoffs.

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Before the game tipped off Ionescu hugged Thomas, who screamed in excitement as she met the WNBA star and told her “Oh my god, I’m obsessed with you!” The two athletes took photos together before Ionescu hit the floor and put on a top-tier performance in front of the star-studded crowd, kicking off a night to remember in her already decorated WNBA career.