Though the New York Liberty would never admit it, they were staring down the barrel of a trap game on Thursday night.
They had just demolished the Golden State Valkyries two nights earlier, and were repeating the matchup at Barclays Center, though without Jonquel Jones (hamstring) and Nyara Sabally, missing her third straight game with knee soreness.
Before the game, Sandy Brondello assured the media neither injury was much to worry about, even with Sabally’s history of knee issues. Thursday night was also the first night of a back-to-back (with travel) for the Liberty, in the middle of a four-games-in-six-nights stretch. (Hence, the trap game.)
Brondello also touched on the Liberty’s biggest issue in the early season: rebounding. Whether they’ve just been bored after building huge leads early or if it’s just been unfortunate variance in a small-sample size, it needs to change.
It did not in their fifth game of the season. The Valkyries grabbed seven o-boards in the first quarter, confirming that they were here to play, and the Liberty, well, not so much.
An early Sabrina Ionescu explosion kept the game tied by halftime. She matched her career-high with five 3-pointers in a single half, hitting a couple of especially rude ones in transition that electrified the crowd...
Kennedy Burke added three long-balls, and that comprised the bulk of New York’s offense on the night. Without Jonquel Jones, they could not generate easy buckets down low, and seemed far less physically imposing to GSV than they had in round one.
New York largely cleaned up the rebounding issues after halftime and didn’t turn the ball over much, but the possession battle really wasn’t their issue. Their 18 points in the paint easily achieved a season-low.
Yet, they built a quick six-point lead early in the fourth quarter thanks to their bench. Rebekah Gardner hit a corner three, her only bucket of the game, but not before Marine Johannès went on a mini-run herself...
It felt like, even without Jones and Sabally, the typical Liberty barrage was coming. The expansion team on the other side called a timeout, though it remains a mystery how the referees could her it over the roar of Barclays Center.
But the Valks showed great resolve out of the timeout. Janelle Salaün shot 7-of-18, but made every important out of the timeout. Monique Billings chipped in a few critical plays, and Julie Vanloo eventually put the underdogs up with less than two minutes left.
“Credit to Golden State,” said Sandy Brondello. “I suppose it’s always hard when we win by 28, the mindset part. And losing JJ is not good for us. But, you know, we’ve got to be tougher than that.”
If not for Breanna Stewart’s relentless hustle, the Liberty would have already lost by then. She made three straight trips to the free-throw line — all off Golden State fouls trying to keep her off the glass — to keep the Liberty on the high side of the see-saw. The Liberty haven’t been able to grab any of their own misses this season, but with Stewie’s motor, that was always subject to change.
Following a questionable 5-second call...
...Natasha Cloud hit a layup — her first and last two-point attempt of the game — to put New York up 80-77 in the final seconds. Then Leonie Fiebich played fantastic defense on a game-tying three from Golden State, and that was the game. The Liberty, by the skin of their teeth, moved to 5-0.
If you look at the box score from Thursday night, there will be plenty of lies told by the official score-keepers, through no fault of their own. If a player draws a foul attempting to grab a board, they do not get credit for the rebound. The subsequent free-throws are also not counted as second-chance points.
Officially, Breanna Stewart “only” put up 27/7/4/2/3 in the victory, the Libs only scored 14 second-chance points, and Stewie only drew sixteen fouls on the Valkyries. Wait, SIXTEEN?
“She didn’t want to lose, and that’s a good thing,” said Brondello.
“That’s why she’s one of the greatest basketball players ever,” added Sabrina Ionescu.
Even on a random Thursday night against an expansion team, this is still Stewie’s greatest quality. The box score will never fully capture it.
The New York Liberty have assembled such a star-studded cast of players and characters that each game recap must be spent talking about at least one of their special qualities. In their last victory it was the wizardry of Marine Johannès. In this one, it’s perhaps the single greatest individual quality on this championship-level team: Breanna Stewart is a maniac.
In her eyes, it’s a lot more simple: “Doing whatever I could to get the win.”
**Final Score: New York Liberty 82, Golden State Valkyries 77**
**Next Up**
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It’s a quick turnaround for the Liberty, who head to the nation’s capital on Friday evening to face the Washington Mystics. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.