Liberty 89, Mystics 88 (OT): Beating the odds
New York fell behind the eight-ball early, then ran the table en route to their third straight win
The 2023 New York Mets are not good. They are, in fact, so bad that even people who don’t follow the Mets know they’re that bad. Yesterday they blew a three-run lead in the eighth inning, giving up a run on a based-loaded error, another on a based-loaded walk and the last two on a pair of based-loaded hit by pitches. What are the odds of that? Not good. Like the Mets.
The 2023 New York Liberty are good. They are, in fact, so good that even people who aren’t big Liberty fans are getting the message. Yesterday the Liberty trailed the quite good Washington Mystics by 17 points in the first quarter. Coming into the game, WNBA teams this season to trail by 17 or more in a game have lost more than 90% of the time. So the odds of New York pulling this one out were not good. But again, unlike the Mets, the Liberty are good. Very, even.
The Mystics raced out to the lead behind a 10-point, four-assist first-quarter flurry from Natasha Cloud. The clip below came later in the game, but it was a running theme: Cloud kept turning the corner on pretty much everyone and getting to the cup, helping Washington to leads of 13-0 and 23-6.
She’s a brilliant player on both ends. When you’re outside on a scalding summer day, cloud cover brings life. When you’re Sabrina Ionescu looking to score, Cloud cover is like dying slowly.
Yogi Berra once said “It’s getting late early.” The Liberty made sure that didn’t happen by beginning their comeback at the beginning: the 17-point gap was cut to 10 after the first quarter and six by halftime. Betnijah Laney had 10 by intermission, and while this was Sabrina Ionescu’s second game back since returning from a hamstring injury, this was the game she was really back.
She scored eight in the third as the Liberty continued to claw back. Ionescu hit seven 3-pointers in this game, which deserves applause and acclaim, but what makes her so special is her ability to bomb you from long range or kill you from up close. In a fourth quarter where they struggled to score against the mystifying Mystic defense, the Liberty outscored them 8-1 from the free throw line.
Speaking of quiet heroics, Courtney Vandersloot is such a clockwork of goodness she can be overlooked while others take turns supernova-ing. But the Liberty don’t win this game without her rebounding (only Breanna Stewart had more), her assists (only Ionescu had as many) and her points. Especially the two points in the dying moments that sent the game to overtime.
Still, with 20 seconds left the Mystics led by two. The Liberty got the ball to Stewart, but she had her shot blocked by Elena Della Donne. The Liberty went to Stewart again. Would she come through? I’ll give you a hint: she’s not a Met.
Chuck D rapped long ago, “Once again back is the incredible . . . ” That’s three wins in a row and five of six for the Liberty, the only NYC summer team justifying its hype. Next game is tomorrow at Connecticut. It might be temping to overlook that in anticipation of the huge showdown next Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces. I doubt this team will overlook anything, though. Especially now that coach Sandy Brondello is done overlooking mentioning to the world that she’s married.
