Liberty 96, Mystics 87; Liberty 101, Fever 83: Hope + direction
Christmas in July: a double-recap of two impressive Liberty wins
“Hope,” Barack Obama once said. “Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us . . . A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.”
In life, we often have to remind ourselves and our loved ones of the light at the end of the tunnel. In sports, the same holds true. This is The Strickland, where the world’s most hopeful fanbase comes for sports coverage. I’m talking to you, Knicks fans. Hope keeps everyone in the sports world showing up night in and night out; hope + direction = hungry enough competitors who are scary when it comes to proving themselves.
The New York Liberty certainly have direction in their veteran leaders, franchise talents, and former Coach of the Year Sandy Brondello. After a loss to Dallas last Wednesday, I wrote “Will the Liberty pull off the road win, capitalizing on the Mystic’s missing players? Or will this be the midpoint of a season of what-could-have-been?” I’m happy to report I don’t think we have to consider the second question, at least for now. Not only did the Liberty reverse things with a win, they made history doing so. To add to the optimism, take into account that the win against the Mystics was a full-team effort and execution.
Jonquel Jones led the squad with 27 points, looking like the MVP we all know her as. Jones also tacked on 11 rebounds, one of three New York players to finish the night with a double-double.
Breanna Stewart had 24 and 10 and point god Sabrina Ionescu added 16 and 11, nearing a triple-double with nine assists. Brondello noted, "I thought that was one of the best games Sabrina has played for us on both ends of the floor. We put the ball back in her hands a little more. She's like Sloot – she's got great vision and sees things happen before they happen." Sab served as the floor general at moments, leading Stewie to say about her teammate’s court vision: “When Sab gets the ball, and to really just run, whether I get it or not, [she] drive[s] the defense through the paint and bring[s] them out to the 3-point line.” The duo connected many times throughout the night, and were able to exploit mismatches when the Mystics went small.
With Elena Delle Donne still out recovering from an ankle sprain, Brittney Sykes stepped up big, leading both teams with 29 points while hauling in 10 rebounds. She helped her squad pick it up in the fourth, the only quarter the Mystics won on the night, cutting the gap to three points a couple of times. This trend – the ability to finish (or lack thereof) – is something we’ve seen from the Liberty throughout this season. Things can get rough late.
This brings us to the second game of the weekend, a matchup against the Fever, a team the Liberty beat in overtime in their last outing. Remember what I said – just now – about finishing? Well, after the Liberty’s monster first quarter, it was truly only downhill from there, with the team scoring fewer points in each consequent quarter – though that’s easier to understand than usual, given the Liberty set a league-record by scoring 44 in the opening frame, besting by two the mark Chicago set four years ago – against New York. Okay, who led them?
#44, Liberty legend Betnijah Laney, notched 22 points, a season-high for her. Just look at this amazing still of her.
The monster first quarter saw the Liberty sink 15 of 18 from the field, six of them 3-pointers, to put them up 27 after just 10 minutes. Ridiculous. Jones showed up and showed out yet again, posting 18 points and 11 rebounds while defended by Aliyah Boston. She was even confident from deep during their early run, sinking a three from the left wing. She also found a way to execute her pick-and-rolls in tandem with Laney, who was posting up down low, creating space for both of them. The rest of the team was certainly loving the 3-ball, including this Marine Johannès swaggy three.
Last year, Brondello had this to say about MJ, the French phenom: “I wanted her to shoot all season long, you have to let her play . . . She’s great when she’s just playing, being instinctual.” Johannes’ confidence was clear, posting 12 points on the night, made up mostly of threes.
The Liberty will face the Seattle Storm for a midweek game this week. We know to look for hope in the matchup, as well as the chance for another triple-digit performance.
