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Liberty crumbles in fourth, extends losing streak to three

By Chris Milholen
Atlanta Dream v New York Liberty Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

The New York Liberty extended their losing streak to three games, losing to the Atlanta Dream, 62-56. With the loss, the Liberty drops to 2-15 on the season while the Dream picks up the season series sweep and improve to 5-13 on the season.

Sabrina Ionescu, who is recovering from a left ankle sprain, did not play. With only five games remaining and no playoff future in the ‘wubble,’ the Liberty may look to rest their star rookie for the remainder of the season, which now amounts to only five games.

Like their loss against the Las Vegas Aces last week, the Liberty struggled in the fourth quarter. After three, the Liberty were tied with the Dream but New York struggled to score when it mattered the most. Down by only one point with 4:57 remaining, the Dream found a rhythm late, pulling together a 5-0 run, holding the Liberty scoreless up till the 46.5 mark, concluding with the Dream pulling away with the win.

There were bright takeaways for the Liberty, the second-youngest team in the WNBA, in Thursday’s loss.

New York’s defensive effort put on a strong showing in the loss. The Liberty did a good job of switching and making repetitive stops, especially in the first half.

Kia Nurse, who came off the bench for the second straight game, had another productive outing finishing with 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists in 25 minutes off the bench. Nurse finished the loss shooting 3-of-16 overall and 2-of-11 from deep.

Earlier in the day, Nurse tweeted out her feelings about the Nets hiring a fellow Canadian.

Leonna Odom had a good outing as well for New York. Odom, who started for the Liberty, scored 12 points to go along with three rebounds in 19 minutes of play. The forward eas the only starter to finish in double-figures.

Paris Kea, who started for the second straight game, continued her consistent play scoring eight points, eight rebounds, and one assist in 19 minutes of play. Kea shot 3-of-8 overall and 1-of-4 from deep.

Like the Liberty’s loss against the Connecticut Sun Monday, both teams shot below 33 percent from the field. Both teams combined for only eight three’s on 53 attempts. New York finished the loss shooting 6-35 (17.1 percent) from deep and 19-of-73 (26.0 percent) from the field to go along with 17 turnovers.

New York looks to snap their losing streak against the Pheonix Mercury Thursday at 8:00 PM ET.

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