New York Liberty collapse late to Indiana Fever, lose 83-78
Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
New York came out flat, then picked it up, but finished right where they started in an awkward loss to the Indiana Fever The first time the Indiana Fever visited the New York Liberty, Head Coach Christie Sides just needed somebody to listen to her.
Her Fever were just 0-2 after a rocky preseason, but it felt much worse than that. It wasn’t just that they looked discombobulated, but often unprepared for the arrival of Caitlin Clark and inevitable re-jiggering of their offense around her.
In that pregame presser on May 18, Sides didn’t explain but insisted that they needed time to gel, seemingly aware of the noise around her team’s 0-2 start, some of it warranted, some of it unfair.
The second time the Fever came to New York, they fell to 2-9 as the Liberty dropped a 36-point blowout on them. The mood wasn’t desperate, but somber. Was Clark’s rookie season, the sophomore campaign of Aliyah Boston, going to be wasted as Indiana twiddled their thumbs with a coach on her way out the door?
Indiana has played ten games since that June 2 matchup, going 6-4 in those games. They’ve had a top-3 offense in that stretch; Boston is getting the ball in her spots, looking more comfortable, Clark’s shot attempts have dipped in exchange for an uptick in efficiency with far more assists, and Kelsey Mitchell has played her way into an All-Star appearance.
That was the Indiana that welcomed the Liberty to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the finale of the season-series. Caitlin Clark was at the forefront, hitting a trio of step-back threes early...
Caitlin Clark steps back and lets another deep triple fly pic.twitter.com/9gjBE8o0P5— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) July 6, 2024
Briefly, it was the Liberty who looked like the early-season Fever, trailing 10-1 right out of the gates.
“I didn’t think we came out with the necessary urgency to compete well,” said Sandy Brondello. “I’ve watched the film on this team, and it’s a team that’s gotten better and better with every game they’ve played.”
Her team would figure it out, as expected. Kayla Thornton came off the bench to hit a three and pick up some dirty-work put-backs to score seven points, Sabrina Ionescu continued to drive the ball with a purpose, on her way to a team-high 22 points and four assists with only one turnover. Leonie Fiebich didn’t quite have it, playing just six minutes, but Kennedy Burke stepped up in her place — the Liberty won KB’s 13 minutes by ten points.
So, another unsurprising storyline was developing. Elite team who has beaten the brakes off of a young team three times gets punched in the mouth, calls timeout to regroup, and slowly chips away at the lead to ultimately put the upstarts back in their place. The Fever have grown into worthy competitors on any given night, sure, but the W’s pecking order remains.
Sure enough, New York took their first lead of the game midway through the second quarter before building a seven-point lead early in the third. The Fever, caught in the throes of a heavyweight battle, were buckling, forgetting to guard Sabrina Ionescu in transition.
The Liberty weren’t playing perfect by any stretch, but covering for their temporary weaknesses Jonquel Jones wasn’t getting any touches down low and would score just six points, but did finish with 12 boards and three steals. Breanna Stewart did get her touches but just couldn’t make anything from the floor, shooting 3-of-11, but did find her way to the free-throw line ten times.
Stewie’s worst showing was a bagel from three, missing all five attempts, but that was par for the course on Sunday afternoon. The Liberty took 42 threes, tying a season-high, and shot just 23.8% on them, a few more open makes and this would’ve turned into a blowout.
But Kennedy Burke hit a late one, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton hit what looked to be a dagger...
is currently shooting 57% from 3 @BetnijahLaney | #LIGHTITUPNYL pic.twitter.com/y8VAMhcqTS— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) July 6, 2024
Laney-Hamilton was the only Lib that shot over 50%, including 4-of-10 from three. It was her best offensive game since the last time New York played Indiana, putting up 20 points for the first time since then. She finished plays by hitting open shots, and even posted up the smaller Kelsey Mitchell a few times, leading to good offense.
With Courtney Vandersloot playing just 14 silent minutes (two points, two assists), it was a worthwhile solution to add some offensive creation to the floor.
The Fever, meanwhile, needed a bit of help on that end. After a 24-point first quarter, they’d scored just 31 points in the next two frames combined, as Clark’s shot left her, and Boston’s paint scoring wasn’t enough to make up for Indiana shooting under 30% from three. They put up a valiant fight, but that’d be it, down 75-68 after Laney-Hamilton’s dagger.
But then, something strange happened. The Liberty stopped executing anything, and the Fever had one last push in them, at first enough to put a scare into the visitors, then enough to overtake the lead, then enough to send them home with a loss as Laney-Hamilton spoiled her day by dribbling the ball off her foot on one critical possession, and Ionescu missed a game-tying three on the next one.
It all happened in the blink of an eye, an 11-0 run that flipped the game on its head. Clark made a floater to snap a long streak without a field goal, then Kelsey Mitchell tied it up with a huge three...
Kelsey Mitchell with the triple for the tie! pic.twitter.com/MHXlED6Qmn— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) July 6, 2024
The Liberty produced open looks from deep for Laney-Hamilton, Thornton, and others during this run, but the shots just wouldn’t fall, and they couldn’t get layups, taking just three shots in the paint in the fourth quarter.
Brondello explained New York’s offensive process post-game: “Defensively, they’re a much better team than when we faced them the first three times ... We probably settled a little bit too much, but it was the shot that was open. But you know, they’re congesting, always scrambling, and making it hard for us to score in the paint. So yeah, I mean, 42 [threes] is a lot. We were not making any but we’ve got very capable shooters, and it was one of those days the ball wasn’t going in the hole.”
That’s what ultimately killed New York, along with a few untimely offensive rebounds Indy grabbed late. It was not, though, what Ionescu deemed it to be in her comments.
“This is their Super Bowl game. I mean, you know, we’ve beaten them three times this year already. We knew they were going to come into this game really hungry and it’s tough to beat a team four times. Like, it’s just tough in our league, especially without every team has just grown and especially this young team.”
It is tough, Ionescu is right, but they also blew a seven-point lead in the dying minutes. Hell, if she said they just missed way too many open threes, that would’ve been right as well.
The Fever deserve credit — Boston kept fighting down low, NaLyssa Smith double-doubled, Lexie Hull played big minutes to close, and Clark posted the first-ever triple-double from a rookie. And the Liberty remain atop the WNBA standings, even with a loss. There’s no reason to panic beyond an eye-roll.
But man, that one didn’t feel quite right.
Final Score: Indiana Fever 83, New York Liberty 78
Roster Updates
A couple pieces of news broke before New York’s loss, including one about backup big Nyara Sabally. The third-year pro had a strong start to her season, but has been out since May 31 with a back injury, either OUT or DOUBTFUL on each injury report since.
But she was listed as QUESTIONABLE before ultimately missing Sunday’s action in Indiana, progress that Brondello spoke on pregame: “We’re slowly building her up. We still want to be smart about it, she’s been out for four weeks. She’s done some practicing.”
Elsewhere, the Libs signed rookie guard Jaylyn Sherrod to a 7-day contract; Sherrod was an undrafted free-agent who caught on with New York this pre-season, where she impressed the team’s decision-makers.
“We saw good things from Jaylyn in training camp,” said Brondello in pre-game. “It’s her speed, the defensive pressure she can put on the floor, and her ability to get into the paint.”
delayed not denied . https://t.co/b1zdPBYxz2— Jaylyn Sherrod (@JaylynSherrod) July 6, 2024
Next Up
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
A matchup with the Connecticut Sun, a must-watch between the two best squads in the Eastern Conference ... and it’s a camp game. After some days off, tip-off from Uncasville, CT. is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET(!) on Wednesday morning.
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