New York Liberty grind out calm win over Atlanta Dream, 78-61
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
The defense did the bulk of the work as the New York Liberty won their fifth straight game Maybe it’s the ball.
Instead of the classic orange-and-white leather the WNBA has been rocking with for 27 years, a black-and-white ball is used in Commissioner’s Cup play.
Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images
Maybe that’s what’s given the Atlanta Dream so much trouble.
Their offensive struggles in game #1 of Cup play, in which they shot an appalling 28.4% from the field and 18.8% from three, were largely chalked up to a Connecticut Sun defense that’s been dominant all season long. Fair enough.
Yet, it damn near got worse for the Dream on Thursday night, especially facing the New York Liberty’s #4 ranked defense. For one, they had little hope of scoring on Jonquel Jones down low. The 6’6” center blocked three shots and altered plenty more down low, starting right from tip-off...
two way JJ sequence to get the scoring started: pic.twitter.com/DDXPZPNtLR— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) June 6, 2024
In taking that 2-0 lead, the Libs laid out the blueprint for the rest of the night: converting Atlanta misses into transition points. New York scored 17 fast-break points on the night, but left even more on the table, consistently bitten by the turnover bug in the early going, which kept a 38-32 first half as close as it was.
“It was just a struggle,” said Breanna Stewart of the first half. “We were trying to push the pace, and it got to a point where it like was a frantic pace.”
Still, there would be many Atlanta misses to run on. Aside from the Dream’s troubles in the paint, they continued to throw up brick after brick from the outside, finishing the game shooting 14.3% from deep. Rhyne Howard, the team's perimeter-oriented leading scorer, couldn't get going until late in the fourth quarter, finishing with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Her fellow top dawg, Allisha Gray, had a bit more success from the mid-range en route to a team-high 16 points, but still shot 0-of-6 from deep.
what an outlet pass by Betnijah to JJ in transition pic.twitter.com/6vN9jhc9uY— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) June 7, 2024
It paled in comparison to Atlanta’s offensive ineptitude, but the Liberty weren’t exactly rolling either. But unlike Atlanta, Sandy Brondello’s team was able to dig their offense out of the mud when they weren’t turning it over in transition, as well as attacking the offensive glass.
Again, Jonquel Jones made her presence felt here, on her way to a 10/8/2 line that far undersold her impact...
more UCLA offense, and Jonquel Jones is just dominating this game with only four points on the board: https://t.co/kJHJYuQYzR pic.twitter.com/Vk6E4i1QX6— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) June 7, 2024
Elsewhere, reserve Leonie Fiebich checked into the game to grab four offensive boards by herself in the half, in addition to playing great defense. Then, she brought her offense to the party in the second half, finishing with eight points, nine boards, and five assists, a stat-line that’s only been matched by Caitlin Clark among all other WNBA rookies.
Fiebich confirmed what we’ve been seeing in post-game, that she’s getting more comfortable with each passing game with her new team, before adding that, as a European rookie, “Players don’t really know my game, so I kind of can be a litte bit sneaky, can get some more shots off, more threes. So that helps for sure.”
Kayla Thornton, starting her second game of the year for Courtney Vandersloot (personal reasons), did Kayla Thornton things, like record two steals and four fouls, but only shot 2-of-9, while Jones and Sabrina Ionescu each finished with ten points. Thus, it was up to Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Breanna Stewart to carry the Libs to the finish line in the second half, and thy delivered.
Stewie finished with 25/10/5 on 8-of-17 and 9-of-9 from the stripe, her second straight game with 25 or more. And like her last one in Chicago, the two-time MVP operated from all over the floor, making Atlanta regret those possessions when help didn’t come quick enough...
AND1️⃣ HER RN @breannastewart pic.twitter.com/LVTqJkmgte— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) June 7, 2024
For Laney-Hamilton, it was a prototypical performance for her outside of four turnovers; she took advantage of opportunities in transition and off cuts, but also on a couple of occasions where she got to attack matchups 1-on-1.
The two forwards were New York’s two leading scorers in a second half where the defense didn’t fall of either, and that was the end Stewart credited in her post-game comments.
“I think it just continues to show our growth, obviously. The way we executed down the stretch, really putting [Atlanta] in a position to take a tough shot ... knowing how important the fourth quarter is. Obviously, every one is important, but we want to finish the game and finish it strong, and these points matter for the Commissioner’s Cup.”
Atlanta Head Coach Tanisha Wright had a slightly different take on the night, saying, “I thought our effort was really piss-poor. We weren’t a professional team today. We didn’t come to do our job today.“
Indeed, the Libs won every quarter on Thursday night, for the first time this season, but outscored Atlanta by ten in the final frame to juice their point differential in the Cup standings and set up a massive showdown in Connecticut this coming weekend.
Within both the regular season as a whole and Cup play, the Liberty have simply taken care of business in 2024. Despite the league’s second-best record and point differential, New York hasn’t always been dominant, nor played the sexiest basketball.
But they’ve done what’s necessary.
Next Up
Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images
And now, the toughest piece of business yet. The Connecticut Sun have only played two Cup games to the Liberty’s three, but given that they are freaking undefeated on the season so far, this is as big of an early regular-season game as can be.
Nyara Sabally (back) Courtney Vandersloot would both be welcome returns to the lineup, but with such a quick turn-around, their statuses are very much up in the air.
Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon, from Uncasville, CT.
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