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The New York Liberty flirted with their old habits again on Sunday, but instead of letting the Indiana Fever claw back from a double-digit deficit, Sabrina Ionescu made sure the Liberty stayed focused and poised.
The Liberty, as they’ve come to be known for, jumped out to an early double-digit lead. Then, also as they’ve come to be known for, they took their foot off the gas. After leading by 18 after a quarter, they played even with the Fever in the second. In the third, it took Kelsey Mitchell 30 seconds to make a layup, for the Liberty to turn it over, and for Mitchell to hit a jumper to pull the Fever to within 12 points.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello called a quick timeout.
“Sabrina, before we went out, said ‘Let's be consistent with effort and our process,’” Brondello said. “She made a point that we hadn't been good. It's a mindset thing. We had some lapses, but the players adjusted.”
It was just like what happened against the Mystics on Friday, the Mercury on Wednesday, and a handful of other times this season. Only this time, the Liberty scored 20 of the next 24 points after the timeout and never looked back, beating the Fever 104-68 in their first Commissioner’s Cup game of the season.
For Ionescu, she has watched the Liberty give teams a “little hope” one too many times.
“I think it's understanding there's been a lot of games that the second quarter has just not been good to us and kind of putting your foot down and being like, ‘It's not gonna happen tonight and tonight is the night that we have to turn the page,’” she said.
Brondello noticed the shift in energy after that third-quarter timeout.
“We had to call a quick timeout, but it was good,” Brondello said. “These players could adjust and get back to playing how we need to. Sometimes when we get up, I think we get a little bit bored. So it's more like, ‘No, let's continue to play for 40 minutes because that's what we're gonna need and it's about us fulfilling our potential.’”
Yes, it was against the Fever, who are just 2-9 this season and were coming off an emotional win over the Chicago Sky the day before. But the Liberty played this same game against them in their home opener with more lackluster results. They built a 21-point first-half lead in the one, then lost the second half to close out an 11-point win.
This time, the Liberty took the lead and continued to build — especially important in the Commissioner’s Cup, which will surely have ties with teams only playing five games. Point differential will make the difference in those situations.
The win included several historic milestones for New York. The Liberty's 104 points were the most they have ever scored against the Fever, and their 36-point win matched their largest margin of victory in the all-time series. Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, and Courtney Vandersloot each had four assists in the first half, which is the first time four Liberty players have done that in a half in franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Liberty shut down Caitlin Clark again
Less than a month into Caitlin Clark’s WNBA career, Laney-Hamilton is already a thorn in her side. On May 17, she ruined Clark’s home opener, locking her down on defense and forcing the Indiana rookie into a 2-of-8 shooting night.
On Sunday, Laney-Hamilton was even better, guarding Clark in the first half and then moving to Mitchell. In addition to forcing Clark into her lowest-scoring output of the year (three points, 1-of-10 FG), she held Mitchell to six points in the second half after she scored 15 in the first.
Laney-Hamilton scored 20 points of her own as well, going 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line.
“She has to guard the best player on the other team every single game. She’s tough as nails,” Brondello said. “I keep saying she should be Defensive Player of the Year.”
Whether she wins that award or not, Laney-Hamilton takes her defense seriously, reviewing tape and preparing for a tough assignment every night.
“Each player that I defend is different, so preparing for them, learning tendencies and then just no matter what, no matter who I'm guarding, just trying to be as aggressive and disruptive as possible,” she said. “So I think it’s more of a chess match, but because I'm always having to do it, I'm kind of always ready and prepared for that.”
Having to face the Fever three times in less than a month may have made Laney-Hamilton’s preparation a little easier, but there’s no letup from here. The Liberty hit the road for three straight games next, starting against the Chicago Sky on Tuesday. The Sky have already beaten the Liberty at home and trounced them in a preseason game in Chicago.
