New York Liberty KO’d by Minnesota Lynx, 88-79
Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images
The Liberty made a quasi-comeback to tidy up the final score, but make no mistake, this was a beatdown. The New York Liberty learned were reminded of a valuable lesson on Sunday afternoon, one week before their 2024 postseason run will commence: You cannot mess around with good teams. Nor great teams. And definitely not the Minnesota Lynx.
The Liberty know this well by now; it was Minnesota they fell to in the Commissioner’s Cup Final, the only team that’s beaten the Libs twice this season. On scales large (level of flow and execution on both sides of the ball) and small (their propensity to make winning plays and extra efforts), they are the polar opposite of the Dallas Wings, who the Liberty walked over twice leading up to Sunday’s contest.
If that didn’t lull them to sleep, the punch Minnesota threw in the first quarter did. The offensive numbers: 12-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three, and a 30-17 lead after ten minutes.
The Liberty went to their long lineup as usual, sending Courtney Vandersloot to the bench, sliding Sabrina Ionescu over to the point, and stacking long wings on the floor. But that doesn’t affect the Lynx the way it does other teams; no matter how much length is on the court, they exploit every minor breakdown in communication. And New York broke down often in the first quarter.
“We didn’t come out with the urgency that we would have liked or had expected,” said Sandy Brondello. “[Minnesota] is a very disciplined team, the way they defend, but also the way they move the ball can be really tough ip match up there. And the only great thing about it is now, hopefully we meet them again, and it’s fresh. We can learn a lot from that. I just felt like they wanted it more than us, we didn’t have that physical presence that we needed.”
Brondello’s team did tighten it up in the second quarter, but by then it was too late. The Lynx were rolling, and even contested shots were going in. And it seems that every 50/50 ball went their way...
story of the 2nd quarter: Liberty playing much, much better D with crisp switching and active hands...but MIN is getting all the bounces: pic.twitter.com/FVP5fl2Q9U— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) September 15, 2024
It was basketball karma, for the way the Liberty had played in the first. Undoubtedly, New York played much, much better in the second, just to shave two points off Minnesota’s lead heading into halftime.
Then, it was the offense’s turn to let them down. The Liberty scored just three points in the first seven minutes of the second half. A once-promising start for Jonquel Jones fizzled out quickly, as she scored just one point in the second half.
The ball movement that shined in Dallas evidently did not make the trip back to New York; Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu took 48 of New York’s 69 field-goal attempts. Ionescu in particular forced the issue, shooting a barren 4-of-21.
Said Ionescu: “They’re a great defensive team, they’re going to make everything difficult. You know, you don’t really get open looks. You get into the lane, you think you’re open, and three people come out of nowhere. So obviously I didn’t shoot the ball well, I was 4-for-21 which isn’t great, but I’m going to continue to stick with it.”
Minnesota built their lead to a whopping 26 points, though that hardly affected a Barclays Center crowd that got on their feet for every window-dressing bucket.
Somehow, they were nearly rewarded for their loyalty. Nyara Sabally brought some much-needed energy to the court, and scored all nine of her points after checking in for Jones late in the third quarter...
awesome spin move from Nyara Sabally: pic.twitter.com/38z0wNUdII— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) September 15, 2024
“She was great,” said Brondello of her backup center. “She gives us a little bit of different look, she rolls quickly, she made some really aggressive moves to the rim.”
A 7-0 burst out of the gates cut the margin to 74-57, which prompted a Cheryl Reeve timeout to organize her team. And yet, the run continued, headlined by an absolutely rabid Breanna Stewart. In the fourth quarter, the Liberty brought it back to 2023, unsure of themselves but comfortable hopping on Stewie’s back.
Unlike prior games, her offense did not come within the flow, off cuts and catch-and-shoot threes. Stewart went to work and her teammates cleared out of the way; as a result, she ended up with 38 points and 18 boards, the first WNBA player to reach those marks in a single game...
Stewie is really hooping, up to 16 points on this gorgeous finish pic.twitter.com/Ypx1ISu4gF— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) September 15, 2024
More impressive than her scoring, though, was her motor, diving on the floor for loose balls and willingly incurring bumps and bruises that will last a week in a nearly un-winnable scenario.
“I feel like Stewie always plays hard,” said Sabally. “She always brings it every single night. And obviously, when one of your best players comes out and plays like that, it kind of pulls the whole group together.”
It nearly pulled the Liberty all the way back to even, as they cut it to eight points with four minutes. But their momentum died there, as Ionescu and Stewie clanged potentially game-shifting threes off the front of the rim, as Kayla McBride delivered a fitting dagger on the other end...
Liberty make one mistake and Kayla McBride makes em pay, that'll probably do it: pic.twitter.com/hR2R493hZa— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) September 15, 2024
Leonie Fiebich, who took just one shot in 28 minutes, explained the Minnesota problem: “Look, I think we’ve played some teams that don’t play this way in the last, I don’t know, 10 games. It’s not easy to come into this game and play a team like Minnesota, who moves so well and who knows each other to a tee.”
“They know exactly where the ball is going, what the next action is, if we switch here, they always have a counter. So I think that was what happened in the first quarter, and I think we fixed some things in the second half. We were communicating a bit better. We were a little bit more aggressive, especially in the fourth quarter, with changing the defense up a bit. That helped us for sure.”
While it is beneficial that the Liberty got to experience playing strong, connected defense against the Lynx, it taught them a lesson they didn’t need to learn again.
New York failed to clinch the #1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs on Sunday, though they’ll have two more chances to do so this week. Minnesota will also have two more chances to lose.
Nobody is panicking, to be clear. The Liberty now sit at 31-7, still the undisputed best team in the league and favorite heading into the playoffs. Losses, even near-blowouts, are forgiven over the course of a long season.
“It’s not easy to come out here and perform to our best every single night,” said Leonie Fiebich.
She's right, of course. And yet, this has to be the last time an opponent slaps this lesson across New York’s face. There will be no more second chances.
Final Score: Minnesota Lynx 88, New York Liberty 79
Box Score
Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
The New York Liberty will play their final road game of the regular season against a potential first-round opponent, the Washington Mystics. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.
Box Score: Minnesota Lynx 88, New York Liberty 79 - WNBA
Game Highlights: Minnesota Lynx 88, New York Liberty 79 (Video) - WNBA
Minnesota tops New York to keep alive hopes of getting top overall seed in WNBA playoffs - Doug Feinberg - AP
Breanna Stewart’s 38 points not enough for Liberty as winning streak ends with loss to Lynx - Brian Lewis - New York Post
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