Liberty 86, Storm 82: The journey of 1000 miles
New York surfs a game-long comeback to stay tied atop the East
Let’s try something.
Yesterday the Las Vegas Aces stormed back from an 18-point deficit to beat the Seattle Storm. Six Aces scored in double-figures for a powerhouse team that tops the WNBA in both offensive and defensive rating. Despite one of their All-Stars having an off-night shooting, there’s just so much talent up and down the Vegas roster that it often feels like a matter of when they’ll win, not if, as evidenced by them winning nine of their last 10 games.
Only none of that happened, at least not to the Aces. The New York Liberty came back from 18 down to top the Storm. Six players scored in double-figures for a powerhouse that ranks second in the league in offensive rating and fourth on the defensive end. Despite Sabrina Ionescu missing 12 of her 14 shots from the field, there’s so much talent up and down the Liberty roster that it’s become more common to wonder how they’ll win games, not if. Winning eight of their last 10 helps to advance that suspicion.
The Liberty are a lot of things, but they’re not the Aces, which is a tough ceiling to keep bumping into when your mission objective is to soar, soar, soar. Vegas is on pace for their fifth straight season winning more than 60% of their games. In the past four they’ve reached two Finals, winning last year’s series. From 2019 to now, they’re 111-37. This season New York is on pace to snap a stretch of five losing seasons in which they failed to win a single playoff series while compiling a record of 47-111. In that light, what possible meaning could there be in a win against league-worst Seattle?
For starters, it helps the Liberty build muscle memory of winning. A number of the players have experienced success elsewhere, even titles, but not together; not this group, specifically. So whether it’s upsetting Sin City’s divinities or dragging Seattle’s dregs, the Liberty are still building whatever it is they are. The journey of 1000 miles doesn’t just begin with a single step; single steps are what keep it going.
Oftentimes that means narrowing your focus to what you can control. Ionescu had a rough night from the field, but finished with a numerologically satisfying 12/12/12 triple-double. Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones combined for 39 and 24. Betnijah Laney brought along her scoring satchel, which contained 19 efficient points and was bedazzled by a trio of trios: three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Earl Monroe and Larry Johnson played in Manhattan, not Brooklyn, but you can see the spiritual through-line from their post-up wizardy to hers.
The Liberty haven’t laid a glove on the Aces yet this season, but if there’s reason for hope it’s that the tortoise took some time building up to besting the hare. One of New York’s biggest reasons for hope has had a tougher time getting on track this season than the other imports, mainly due to recovering from injury and changing her game more than those other imports. But when Jones gets to Jonesing, there’s no keeping up with her.
If there’s one way the Liberty have caught up with the Aces, it’s that they’re now one of those teams whose regular season – no matter how impressive – won’t really matter to outsiders. The Liberty were built to compete for and win championships, and that’s the bottom line and this is a world literally killing itself for the sake of any bottom line besides its own survival. But just because madness abounds doesn’t mean you have to subscribe to it. Exhibit A: consider these firefighters and a deer in Greece.
The world is on fire. But the deer needed help, and the firefighters could, so they did. It shouldn’t take an apocalypse to value each other like that, but sometimes it be’s that way, Papi. For a while, the Liberty were a flaming tire fire of a team. They needed help, and boy did they get some. A year or two from now, they’ll be just like the Aces to many: terrifyingly admirable or stunningly stumbling, with no in-between. If you find yourself in that binary, try to remember days like yesterday, wins like yesterday’s. Quenching one deer’s thirst won’t stop climate chaos. Comeback wins over the league’s cellar dwellers doesn’t get you a trophy. But we only ever have the time we have right now. Sometimes a deer in need is all the world you can save. Sometimes the game in front of you is all you can win. The journey of 1000 miles isn’t just about steps. It’s about how we grow along the way.
