Liberty 85, Mercury 63: Back to work
The Liberty follow a split of their most hyped games all season with a runaway win over the noticeably dimmer Mercury
Coming off a loss to the Las Vegas Aces (two days after a win against the Aces), the New York Liberty headed into a road matchup at the Phoenix Mercury with a list of things to work on – notably, efficiency on offense and limiting the number of times they send their opponents to the line (ahem, Jonquel Jones). They’re nearing the end of a season-long road trip, most of it against playoff teams in Vegas, Connecticut and Minnesota. They’re also past the halfway point of August, which means we’re nearing the playoffs; with their spot clinched, it’s time for the Liberty to fine tune and tidy up.
There is one more thing I want to address before moving on to their 85-63 win at at the Footprint Center, one that could make or break their championship hopes: the fourth quarter. After Friday’s win against the Mercury, the Liberty now have the WNBA’s second-best record of 25-7, 26-7 if you count the Commissioner’s Cup, which they don’t, but which figures into this stat: the Liberty have only managed to “win” the fourth 18 times this season, versus 14 times they were outscored and one draw. Of course, outscoring your opponents in the fourth doesn’t automatically mean a W; on the other hand, getting outscored in the fourth can mean the opponent walks out of the arena thinking it was their game to win. Twice this season the Liberty were outscored by 10+ points in the fourth: 27-12 against the Indiana Fever on July 12 and 29-18 against the Sparks on July 30. In the former game the Fever forced overtime, putting the pressure back on the Liberty to scrape a win together.
This ability to finish late in games will be crucial looking ahead to playoffs and the eventual (hopefully) championship series. Last night, by the skin of their teeth, the Liberty beat the Mercury in the fourth 10-9, but the hefty lead they established with a monster third quarter was enough cushion for the road win. It was another relatively quiet night for Breanna Stewart as well as Jones, who finished with an uncharacteristic 12 and six points, respectively. Betnijah Laney did the heavy lifting for the offense with 22 points and four rebounds, and was bolstered by Sabrina Ionescu’s and Marine Johannés’ 18 apiece. The highlight of the game was a Laney jumper followed up by Johannés stealing the inbounds and immediately draining a three.
The Liberty scored 59 of their 85 points in the second and third quarters. The Brittney Griner-less Mercury were led by Diana Taurasi and Sophie Cunningham’s 14 each, never enough to overcome 18-point advantage from behind the arc, where New York is typically lights out, leading the league in 3-pointers made with 359 while nearly tops in accuracy at 37.9%, barely behind Vegas at 38.2%. Johannés was 4-for-7 on the night while the Liberty were 10-of-29 as a team, compared to the Mercury’s relatively measly 4–of-23.
Sandy Brondello picked up her 205th win of the season, tying Anne Donovan for 8th all-time among WNBA coaches. Congrats, Coach! The Liberty will enjoy some time off before playing the Sun in Uncasville Thursday.
