This is who the New York Liberty are at their best. Four players scoring in the double-digits, shots falling from deep at a 46 per cent rate, forcing turnovers with their switchy defence, and high-level all-around play from their superstars.
They came into these playoffs as the favourite for good reason — Sunday night proved why.
New York, despite yet another comeback scare, showed their resilience and star power to take down the Lynx 80-66 in Game 2, tying the WNBA Finals up at 1-1 as the two sides get ready to go to Minnesota.
Breanna Stewart reminded the world that she’s a two-time MVP, finishing with a game-high 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one block and a WNBA Finals-record seven steals.
Sabrina Ionescu followed it up with 15 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals while Jonquel Jones, the third piece of New York’s terrifying triumvirate, had 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals.
More importantly though, that trio finished 18 for 40 (45 per cent) from the field and four for 11 from (36 per cent) from deep. Nothing earth-shattering, but a clear step up from Game 1’s costly inefficiencies.
Here are some takeaways from an all-too-important bounce-back in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.
Don’t bet against Betnijah
When looking at the Liberty, it’s easy to get caught up in the superstar trio of Ionescu, Stewart and Jones. But the rest of this team has been built for this exact moment, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton proved that on Sunday.
After being held to only five points on two for seven from the field in Game 1, the 30-year-old wing was lights out in Game 2, finishing with 20 points on eight for 14 from the field and more importantly, four for six from three-point range.
Those makes from deep came in every which way, from catch-and-shoot looks in the corner to pull-up jumpers from the break with a little help from a screen. But every single one of them felt like a back-breaker for a Lynx team that did such a great job of shutting down New York’s shooters in Game 1.
Then, for the Liberty’s first basket of the third, she cooked Lynx centre Alanna Smith on a nasty turnaround jumper from near the free-throw line and finished a perfect drive to the basket after shedding two defenders on the next possession.
Her most important shot came with three minutes left in regulation. The Lynx were cutting into the Liberty’s lead, shrinking it all the way down to a two-point deficit and providing brutal reminders of Game 1’s collapse. But Laney-Hamilton tuned all that, draining a three-pointer off the catch from the corner to get it back to a five-point lead.
When the Liberty needed a bucket, Laney-Hamilton was there. End of the shot clock, to save a sloppy possession, off an offensive rebound, whatever the situation, she came through.
What makes it more impressive, however, is that head coach Sandy Brondello told reporters before the game that Laney-Hamilton has apparently still been dealing with a knee injury suffered in September and that she wasn’t 100 per cent coming into this one.
From her three-level scoring ability to her do-or-die mentality, her outing was the sort of effort the Liberty needed after losing Game 1.
Collier comes back down to Earth
What Napheesa Collier has done over the last month in the post-season for the Lynx has perhaps fundamentally altered expectations for the 28-year-old forward.
After yet another spectacular performance in Game 1, it felt as though there was no force in the world built to slow her down. For good reason, people (myself included) got rather hyperbolic when it comes to how good she is and where she might stand amongst her cohorts in the WNBA.
She finished Game 2 with 16 points on seven for 12 shooting, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals. Usually, if someone were to finish a game with that line, it would be regarded as a steady, all-around performance, but nothing world-beating. Unfortunately, world-beating is now the expectation for Collier.
The Liberty did incredibly well keeping her in check, Breanna Stewart in particular, and forcing her into bad turnovers and tough looks. Overall, she finished with seven turnovers and four fouls which forced her to play more cautiously down the stretch.
All this to say that while she didn’t play poorly by any means, she didn’t play up to her absurdly high standards. But against the star-studded New York Liberty, those high standards are the difference between a comeback finishing in a win or a loss.
Liberty bend, but don’t break
It almost happened again.
With three minutes left in the second quarter, the New York Liberty had a 17-point lead, a deficit that is starting to feel less and less safe in this series.
20 minutes later, with three left in the fourth, that lead was down to two. From the broadcast table courtside, sounds of Ryan Ruocco’s iconic “YOU BET” started ringing through the Liberty’s ears, reminding them of the historic collapse on Thursday.
If they fell apart again and went to Minnesota with a 2-0 deficit, it was all but written that the Liberty’s finals curse was bound to have another chapter penned.
But they quelled it, somehow, some way.
New York had three shaky turnovers earlier in the fourth frame, but from those three minutes onward, they played it safe with the ball, found the open player, forced the Lynx into tough shots and held steady. Compare that to Game 1 when they had two shot clock turnovers in the final three minutes to throw the game away, and it’s clear that the Liberty approached Sunday’s clutch situation with much more resolve.
Instead of falling victim to sloppy play, they forced the Lynx into bad possessions and scored 26 points off Minnesota’s 20 turnovers. The most important one came off a Leonie Fiebich steal that ended with a poised three-pointer in transition to ice the game.
The Liberty were the most efficient offensive team in the clutch in the regular season, finishing with a 111.6 offensive rating in those situations. They showed why on Sunday.