Liberty on the Brink of Elimination After Being “Embarrassed” by the Mercury
The current WNBA champions, the New York Liberty, are one loss away from elimination from the playoffs, after being outplayed by the Phoenix Mercury with a score of 86-60 at the Barclays Center on Wednesday night. Breanna Stewart, the team’s star, called the performance “shameful”. This loss represents the worst home defeat in playoff history for the Liberty and the second-largest playoff defeat for a defending champion in WNBA history. Many fans left the stadium before the final quarter ended. The decisive Game 3 will take place in Phoenix on Friday.Stewart, who suffered a medial collateral ligament sprain in the final minutes of the Game 1 overtime victory (76-69), started the game wearing a brace on his left knee. Although he played 20 minutes, he only scored six points and two rebounds, ending his streak of 44 consecutive playoff games with at least 10 points. This season, Stewart averaged 18.3 points and 6.6 rebounds. Stewart expressed satisfaction with his knee’s response, but not with his personal performance.“They came and embarrassed us on our court,” Stewart said. “Now we have to go back there for Game 3. Winner takes all. If we’re not ready for that, then we shouldn’t be here.”
Breanna Stewart
Phoenix’s defense suffocated New York, holding them to 24 points below their season average of 84.4 points per game. The Mercury recorded 10 steals and New York accumulated 15 turnovers. The Liberty had 10 of 20 field goals in the first quarter, but only 9 of 43 in the remaining three quarters.“I just wasn’t where I wanted to be today,” she stated. “I have 48 hours to fix it.”
Breanna Stewart
After a tied first quarter (25-25), the Liberty’s collapse was rapid and decisive. New York’s problems, which won the franchise’s first WNBA title last year, were numerous:“Defense has been our hallmark all year,” said Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts. “The hope is that when you get to the playoffs, you step up your game. I think we have.”
Nate Tibbetts
- The Liberty were outscored 26-12 in the second quarter and 18-10 in the third, making only five field goals in those two periods.
- The Liberty’s first points in the second half came at 5:09 of the third quarter, and their first field goal in the second half was at the 1:35 mark.
- The Liberty’s starting five were a combined 10 of 38 (26.3%) in field goals, with no starter scoring in double figures.
- The combined 22 points of Stewart (6), Ionescu (9), and Jonquel Jones (7) marked their lowest amount in 109 games as teammates.
Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas led Phoenix with 15 points each. Kahleah Copper and DeWanna Bonner scored 14 each. Sabally had four steals. It was a significant bounce-back game for Sabally, who went 2-of-17 in Game 1.“We all have to improve our game, our defense, our offense,” Jones said. “We’re a very powerful team on offense, and tonight they were able to clog us up and make things difficult.”
Jonquel Jones
The Mercury, who were outscored 11-4 in overtime in Game 1, took the momentum into Game 3, where the winner takes all.“There was a lot of talk about her last game, but if you haven’t had a game like that, then you haven’t been playing at the highest level,” Thomas said. “We have the utmost confidence in her and we knew she was going to go out there and do her thing tonight.”
Alyssa Thomas
“We can’t go out and play the same way we did and expect a different result,” Ionescu said. “I think we have to go out and make the adjustments and play like our season is on the line, because it is. And theirs too.”
Sabrina Ionescu
