Surging Liberty rally past slumping Storm

WNBA Most Valuable Player candidate Breanna Stewart scored 22 points, Sabrina Ionescu posted her fourth triple-double of the campaign and reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Jonquel Jones grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds Tuesday night at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

The Eastern Conference-leading New York Liberty would need every bit of it just to overcome an 18-point, second-half deficit against the slumping Seattle Storm.

“I told them ‘It’s a long game. We have to keep competing,’” New York head coach Sandy Brondello recalled after watching her squad rally for an 86-82 triumph over the Storm in front of 6,118 relieved fans on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.

The Liberty (17-5), touted as a favorite to emerge from the East as the top challenger to defending WNBA champion Las Vegas this year, are off to the best start in franchise history after their biggest comeback of the season.

But it certainly didn’t come easy against a Seattle team that opened a 55-37 cushion on Gabby Williams’ 3-pointer with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter.

New York responded with an 11-0 third-quarter run, but couldn’t overtake the Storm until Jones’ 25-foot bank shot sank through with 1:16 left in regulation, giving the Liberty a 79-77 advantage.

“It felt like a playoff game in that second half,” Brondello noted as the crowd rose in waves with every made basket. “We just found a way. We made every possession count. … That’s what you need to do to win.”

The Liberty have won three in a row and the first two contests of this season-high four-game homestand, which will continue Thursday night vs. Atlanta.

Minnesota…