The New York Liberty used a balanced scoring attack and a sturdy defense to grab a wire-to-wire victory over the Minessota Lynx, 80-66, in game 2 of the WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sunday.
It was a bounce-back win for the Liberty, following a disappointing loss at home for game 1, where the Liberty at one led by 16 points lead in the first quarter only to give it all away in an overtime 95-93 defeat.
In this second game, the Liberty opened strong, pouring in 31 points in the first quarter, led by point guard Sabrina Ionescu's 12 points on 5-7 shooting, which was a major uptick in shooting efficiency from game 1 for Ionescu when she shot 8-26 (30.8%) for the game and was a -1 in plus/minus. The first quarter marked the most field goals made in a quarter this postseason for New York.
Liberty power forward Breanna Stewart had another inefficient shooting game on Sunday, but she stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and seven steals. Stewart also put in major work on the defensive side, using her 7-foot-1 wingspan to get her hands in the passing lanes and disrupt the Lynx offense. Her seven steals is a career-high and the most in WNBA Finals history.
The first half was fast-paced basketball with the Liberty going into intermission leading 49-39. That tied for the highest-scoring half in the postseason this year for New York (49 points). The pace slowed down in the second half, with both teams going cold in the third quarter, shooting below 40% from the field and not making a single 3-point shot.
The Liberty entered the fourth quarter leading 61-53 and pushed the advantage to nine points, when point guard Courtney Vandersloot was called for a flagrant foul, jump-starting a seven-point run by the visitors. Lynx guard Natisha Hieldeman went to the line and calmly sank three technical free throws; the Lynx got the ball back, and after power forward Napheesa Collier sank a turnaround jump shot at the 6:46 mark, the Liberty's lead shrunk to two points, and the home team seemed primed for another shocker.
Collier played a tough game, pacing the Lynx with 16 points. But, the Minnesota team was unable to get the same level of production from shooting guards Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams, who previously scored 22 and 23 points respectively in the Lynx's game 1 victory.
And unlike game 1, the Liberty did not allow the Lynx to take the lead, as the sold-out arena (18,046) loudly cheered, "Defense!" and the Liberty buckled down, stayed composed, and pushed the lead back to double digits, snagging a 14-point win at 80-66 and tying the series at 1-1.
The Liberty's first quarter tied for the most assists in a quarter in franchise postseason history for New York. Breanna Stewart moved into 10th all-time on the WNBA Finals points list. And enough cannot be said about forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton who was a clear star in this game, knocking down 20 points, which tied her season-high.
Losing two games at home would have been disastrous for the Liberty, as they now travel to Minnesota for games three and four in the best of five series.
The WNBA Finals is presented by YoutubeTV and aired on ABC/ESPN.
