However you interpreted the scuffle between the New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury in the fourth quarter of their game Wednesday night, you can’t deny that a switch flipped. The Liberty didn't go on an explosive run after that to close it out, but it was clear that they were the more composed and in-control team.
Sabrina Ionescu said, “It was madness.” Courtney Vandersloot shrugged her shoulders and said “It was just two teams going at it.” Kayla Thornton didn’t even know she got a technical foul.
With 6:06 to go in a 65-65 game, the Liberty forced a jump ball on Phoenix’s end of the court. As the referee prepared to toss the ball up, Thornton and the Mercury’s Sug Sutton jockeyed for position. They exchanged a couple of shoves and the refs had to step in to separate the teams. Thornton and Sutton both earned technical fouls and the game continued.
“Sometimes it’s nice to get fired up,” Ionescu said. “Obviously the fans loved it. I think they were kind of just riled up and gave us just a little bit of extra boost.”
The Liberty scored the next four points, and even though the Mercury responded, the team showed a resolve that it had not over the past week. They ultimately won, 81-78 to snap a two-game losing streak.
It was a game full of being “fired up.” Ionescu received a technical foul in the first half when she hit a jump shot and jawed to the refs after getting hit in the face. Later, cameras caught Betnijah Laney-Hamilton chirping with Sophie Cunningham near the end of the first half, though the two were going at it all night.
“Sometimes it's gonna be ugly and that's just the way that this league is,” Vandersloot said. “We want to be pretty all the time. We work to get that way, but getting the win is the most important.”
In a game that could have easily gone the other way, the Liberty did what they could not in losses to the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky. They stayed tough on defense and didn’t let their mistakes snowball.
After an electric first quarter, the Liberty went ice cold in the second and third, watching their 15-point lead slowly slip away. Only, when the Mercury could have built a lead, New York held serve on defense.
“I think that was just something that we were intentional about these last couple days, not allowing our offense to dictate our defense,” Laney-Hamilton said. “We had some lapses, but overall, our defense was really solid.”
Compare that to Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, when head coach Sandy Brondello said the team “stopped playing” once the game started going south. On Wednesday, the Liberty started 5-7 from three and went 4-25 the rest of the way, yet Phoenix never led by more than five points.
“I always say this and you might think it’s tiresome but don’t get too high or too low,” Brondello said. “What can we control in the moment? We had some bad patches…but we stayed composed and poised and together.”
Establishing Jonquel Jones for the Liberty
Jonquel Jones came into the game in a two-game slump. She had made five total field goals and committed eight turnovers and 10 fouls in that span. She established herself early from the perimeter on Wednesday, hitting a pair of threes, but truly shined in the fourth when she was able to score in the post.
Ten of Jones' 20 points came in the final 6:30 of the game, all in the paint or at the free throw line. Against an undersized Mercury team, there simply wasn’t a way to defend her once she caught the ball in position.
“That’s something that we’ve talked about, where we could utilize her a little bit more, finding ways to get her some space,” Brondello said. “I think we just have to find her touches and [Jones] is not just a great finisher, she’s also a great passer. So even putting her in those positions will help us get some easier looks.”
In that way, Jones can be a vital piece to the Liberty offense. Vandersloot and Ionescu run the show in the backcourt, but during a stretch where communication has been a problem and even the players admit they’re sometimes trying to do too much, simply feeding the post is sometimes the answer.
As the Liberty struggled to score, they viewed the fourth quarter as an opportunity to find easier looks.
“I think it was just that we have a different level of intentionality with me getting down there, them giving me time to post up,” Jones said. “Ultimately I think it was just a mindset shift from both me and my teammates.”
The key from here will be to start to build consistency. Vandersloot bemoaned some of the “bad habits” that continued to seep in on Wednesday, particularly on offense, and without much practice time ahead, the team will have to start adjusting on the fly. The next test comes Friday night at home against the Washington Mystics, a winless team that they just barely beat in DC in the season opener.
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