The New York Liberty had a chance to put it away in the third quarter. Despite missing some open jumpers, they had generally played well to begin the game, building a two-possession lead over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of their playoff-opening series.
Natasha Cloud was well on her way to one of her best performances of the season; she’d finish with 23/6/5 on 9-of-12 shooting with four steals and four turnovers, her playoff excellence well established as an annual tradition. She got to the rim, guarded Kahleah Copper admirably, made jumpers when she needed to, and of course, talked much junk to her former teammates in her former home.
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Breanna Stewart led the charge alongside Cloud, the ultimate security blanket for New York on both ends of the court. Defending either Natasha Mack and helping off the tall non-shooter, or defending Alyssa Thomas and putting herself directly in the middle of every action.
But the Liberty were going to need somebody else to step up…and they had to keep waiting. Kennedy Burke was 0-of-5 with two horrific turnovers off the bench, Emma Meesseman missed the shots we’ve seen her swish in a Liberty uniform while Phoenix played her off the court on the other end; even in a playoff game, Jonquel Jones spent most of it just sorta floating around, Leonie Fiebich had four turnovers, and Sabrina Ionescu pick-and-roll left much to be desired, as she shot just 6-of-18.
In the third quarter, this all came home to roost. Phoenix tied it up on their favorite play, an action New York has scouted into oblivion, but broke down on anyway…
The Mercury entered the fourth quarter with a two-point lead, despite stinkers in progress from Thomas and Satou Sabally (who shot 2-of-17). Neither team could feel good about where they were at, but Mercury fans were likely thanking their lucky stars for a lead.
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This continued into the fourth quarter. It was the nerve-wracking finish many fans and pundits were hoping for when the Mercury and Liberty drew each other in the first round, but it was atrocious basketball. Monique Akoa Makani took a pull up 16-footer on a 3-vs-1 fast-break, Meesseman got Copper on a switch only to travel, negating a shot attempt that hit the side of the backboard. It was just that kind of night. For New York, Stewie and Tash were the adults in the room.
The Mercury didn’t have such leaders. If they did, they would have won the game. Instead, with two minutes left in a tie game, Alyssa Thomas missed two free-throws, then she shot an airball, and then…
The Liberty had earned a heart-breaking loss. If they had just missed open shots, that’d have been one thing, but they compounded those misses with sloppy turnovers; as Alyssa Thomas spun rightward out of Stewie’s grasp, they could only watch in misery.
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Thomas smoked it. A wide-open layup for the win, and she pushed it long. For player and team, both facing unabashed skepticism about how they’d perform when they lights get bright at playoff time, no single play could have hurt more than that.
Conversely the Mercury went underneath a ball-screen on Cloud to begin overtime, and she a go-ahead three.
“We know she has the ability to get downhill,” said Brondello of her point guard. “I thought she did a great job of that, but I think where she’s grown this year is just really being steady, and when they’re going under — which every team does — she’s been ready to shoot that three-ball, and she’s been shooting the three ball extremely well lately.”
It would be wrong to say that each team did everything in their power not to win. Some of New York’s 21 turnovers were not unforced errors, but rather the product of aggressive, physical Phoenix defense that pushed the action toward halfcourt. The Liberty, though, masked their biggest weakness to open the playoffs, grabbing ten offensive boards while only allowing five, easing some of their possession battle woes.
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Leonie Fiebich made a couple timely threes, including one in overtime, and after that breakdown on Thomas’ game-tying layup, the defense did not break or even bend. Jones blocked Copper in drop coverage on a critical possession, and Ionescu of all people made the defensive play of the game…
“I think we just were all on the same page,” said Jones of the team’s defense. “And I think you just alluded to it, but the connection was probably the most important thing. To rotate, and helping each other, understanding what the schemes are for the game, and just going out there and executing.”
Certainly, we can nitpick New York’s defensive possessions, but they allowed fewer than 70 points in an overtime game despite turning it over 21 times. The results are the results.
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With a team this talented, the slightest positive can turn into a major source of belief, and so the win may have been ugly, but in the playoffs, even an ugly win is cause for celebration. Only, Breanna Stewart got hurt. Pushing the lead from three to five early in OT, she caught the ball near the left corner and dusted Thomas on the baseline.
She went to take flight, as she has ad infinitum in her legendary career. Stride, plant, explode over helpless help defenders. But when Stewie rose, she immediately yelped in pain; her knee buckled on the takeoff, and though she made the layup, she fell to the floor in pain. The Liberty called a timeout, huddling over Stewie, praying that she’d get up and laugh it off.
Stewie got up alright, but with tears in her eyes. She tried to play a couple more possessions, and though she was just limping around, Phoenix could only toss up a couple wayward jumpers over her endless arms. But that was it. She hobbled back to the bench as the Liberty closed out the win, which suddenly felt a whole lot worse…
Sandy Brondello said what we all knew at the postgame presser. That Stewie would be evaluated later, that there was no update. The mind races to some uncomfortable conclusions. Breanna Stewart has played basketball for far too long to cry over a little scrape.
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The Liberty are now staring into the unknown. It probably would’ve been better if Thomas made that layup and ended the game right there. But because she didn’t, because the Mercury lost in such dispiriting fashion and because Stewie finished out her fantastic performance in misery on the bench, it’s possible both teams’ seasons ended on Sunday night.
All the New York Liberty can do now is hope for the best. At least they won.
Next Up
One important medical evaluation, then a practice, and then Game 2 at Barclays Center, where the Liberty will have a chance to advance to the second round. Tip-off is scheduled for Wednesday evening at 8:00 p.m. ET.
