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Eventually, the mistakes are going to catch up with you. The New York Liberty learned that on Thursday night when they fell 89-81 to the Phoenix Mercury at home.
It was the third straight game where the defending WNBA champions went long stretches appearing to be out of sync. The early season malaise left head coach Sandy Brondello looking for answers and her stars, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, sounding frustrated postgame.
Rebounding, which has been a problem all year for the Liberty, was again an issue. Phoenix owned a 42-32 advantage on the boards, leading to 26 second-chance points — and some extra clock-killing possessions late in the fourth quarter as the Liberty tried to mount a comeback.
New York also committed 19 turnovers, leading to the Mercury attempting 11 more field goals.
“Obviously we're not happy with the way we played, we should have been a little bit more aggressive in that first half and generated some energy,” Brondello said. “The turnovers and the offensive rebounding, that really hurt us. We know that. [There are] no excuses for the way we played.”
Brondello used the word “energy” multiple times. On Tuesday in New York’s win over the Atlanta Dream, she added Jaylyn Sherrod to the lineup in the second half to give them a spark. Sherrod saw the court on Thursday, but it wasn’t enough to light a fire under a team that just barely missed out on a spot in the Commissioner’s Cup title game earlier in the week.
Ionescu, coming off of back-to-back 30-point games, struggled from the field, shooting 3-16 and 1-10 from three. She pointed to the defense as the source of the team’s failure to convert on the other end.
“I think it starts defensively,” she said. “When we don't get stops, we're not able to really get up. Obviously they were making things difficult. They were in the paint, flying out, and I think we just gotta be better at staying composed, not turning the ball over and finding the open man.”
The Liberty got better in the third quarter, similar to the last two games when they mounted their comebacks. But like in Indiana, New York couldn’t get over the hump.
“They shot the ball really well, and [Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally] were hard guards for us, but I thought when we got aggressive in the third, it was better,” Brondello said.
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Liberty loss made worse by Jonquel Jones injury
The loss was bad enough. Far more concerning, however, was a play in the second quarter where Jonquel Jones appeared to re-injure the ankle that kept her out of two games earlier in the season.
She was fouled on the play but was unable to take the free throws, meaning she was not allowed to return. Jones left Barclays Center in a boot, according to SI’s Geoff Maglioccheti.
Brondello did not have an update on her condition immediately after the game, but admitted her absence played a role in the team’s rebounding woes.
“We gotta find a way to rebound,” she said. “We just can't just put it all on [Jones], so it's about all of us, [It’s] ball watching, jumping over the back of us. They're things we can fix, it's just a mindset we've got to flip.”
The Liberty now embark on a four-game road trip starting in Seattle on Sunday. The swing will include rematches against the Mercury and Dream.
