Everything appeared to be going the Liberty’s way as they faced Phoenix in Game 2 of their best-of-three first-round playoff series.
They’d swiped the home court advantage with a win in Game 1 Sunday. They’d learned earlier in the day that Breanna Stewart’s left knee MCL sprain wouldn’t keep her out of the starting lineup. They were the more experienced team and they’d be playing in front of one of the league’s best crowds.
But nothing went their way soon after the game started.
The Mercury turned up the defensive pressure to force misses and get turnovers, they raced the floor ahead of the Liberty’s chasing defenders and they were the more physical team. Phoenix opened up a huge lead in the second quarter and never looked back as the pinned an overwhelming 86-60 loss on the Liberty before 17,017 at Barclays Center.
“We’re a way better team than we showed today,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said.
They will get one more chance to show it on Friday when they travel to PHX Arena for the deciding Game 3.
“We can’t go there and play the same way we did and expect a different result,” said Sabrina Ionescu, who opened her night by missing all three free throws when she was fouled on a three-pointer and ended up with nine points on 3-for-13 shooting.
“We know the importance and significance of our fans and what we’ve built here and we know that we’ve got to play better next game because this shouldn’t be the end and how we leave them,” she added.
Emma Meesseman was the only Liberty player to score in double figures with 11 points and Jonquel Jones added 13 rebounds. The Liberty shot an anemic 30% from the floor and they committed 15 turnovers that led to 25 points as the Mercury raced to 22 on fast breaks.
Stewart played only 20 of the first 34 minutes and finished with six points, two rebounds and two assists and Brondello pointed to the Mercury’s physicality against her as a contributing factor.
“[Stewart] is tough . . . she did what she could there,” she said. “I suppose the physicality there was hard . . . but I think we all know she’s a champion and she’s going to respond in the right way.”
The Mercury broke away from a tie score with an overwhelming first seven minutes of the second quarter for a 19-point lead and the Liberty never got the margin back to single digits. Phoenix led by 24 with 2:19 left in the third quarter and by game-high 31 with 6:09 left in the game.
At that point Brondello pulled the team’s regulars to rest them for Friday.
“A lot of our players were ready to play yesterday after [losing] Game 1,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “[The Liberty] is going to be better [Friday]. There’s no hiding it. They’re the defending champs. We’re going to see their best in Game 3 and we’ve got to be ready.”
Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally each had 15 points and DeWanna Bonner and Kahleah Copper both had 14 points for the Mercury. Phoenix shot 48% from the floor.
The Mercury dominated the Liberty on both ends of the floor in the second quarter, outscoring them 26-12 for a 51-37 halftime lead. Phoenix opened the quarter with a 24-5 run that started with Sabally scoring 10 of their first 12 points and got capped by Thomas’ transition layup for a 49-30 lead.
During the run, the Liberty went 1-for-10 shooting including 5:46 without a field goal.
The third quarter was arguably worse as they didn’t make a shot from the floor for the first 6:25.
Meesseman said that in the locker room after the game there “was disappointment” but that there was a mental shift “to be ready for the next game.”
“The vibe is the season isn’t over,” Jones said. “The vibe is that we got Game 1 and now we have the opportunity to be able to go and play another game and to win another game . . . We’ve been in this situation before, we have the experience and we know what it’s going to take.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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