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New York Liberty survive Minnesota Lynx in Game 2 of WNBA Finals, win 80-66

Once again, things got hairy for the New York Liberty as they tried to capitalize on a big lead at home. But the ending was different.

By Lucas Kaplan
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2024 WNBA Finals - Minnesota Lynx v New York Liberty Photo by Luther Schlaifer/NBAE via Getty Images

We had an extra day off to breathe after the New York Liberty blew Game 1 of the WNBA Finals in blood-curdling fashion. That’s not to say the impact of that loss won’t be felt throughout the series, but some perspective landed over the weekend.

As bad as Thursday night was, it counted for just one loss, and Sunday afternoon represented an opportunity for the Liberty to tie the series at one apiece. A best-of-3 with the Minnesota Lynx hosting the first two isn’t a best-case scenario, but it’s not too bad, and New York is out of other options.

“You can’t be carrying doubt in your head at all,” said Sandy Brondello before Game 2.

Easier said than done, but if New York carried doubt, it didn’t show in another excellent first half. While the scoreboard suggested it was a Game 1 repeat, New York’s play said otherwise. Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, who chucked their way to a combined 14-of-47 on Thursday, came out with completely different mindsets.

Ionescu did not over-dribble against Minnesota’s switches, instead rising up when she got to her spots or quickly moving onto the next action. It led to a dozen points in the first quarter, and an electrified Barclays Center crowd of 18,040, a new Liberty record.

But Breanna Stewart’s seven points and five assists were arguably more impressive. She tapped into the ideal level of aggression, eating up space but looking to draw help and move the ball...

Thankfully, that ball often found Betnijah Laney-Hamilton who came out of nowhere to score 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, hitting every momentum-shifting jumper that came her way. On Saturday, Brondello responded to a question about Laney-Hamilton’s clearly jacked up knee by saying: “Look, she’s playing. She’s giving whatever she can.”

That sums up Laney-Hamilton’s health at this point, a player who has simply said “I’m just trying to make it through,” about her knee.

Clichés abound when you get to a stage like the WNBA Finals, but her performance on Sunday afternoon is the stuff of legend, and a performance Liberty fans will always remember, regardless of whether New York comes out of this with a ring. It wasn't just found money either — Laney-Hamilton got to work, hunting shots and pulling up over outstretched hands...

New York sprouted a 17-point lead in the second quarter, and though that was cut to ten by the half, the Liberty were better than they were in Game 1, a couple of mind-numbing turnovers notwithstanding.

The third quarter was a rock-fight; no Lib repeated their first-half success: Stewart finished with those same five assists as driving lanes started to close, Ionescu scored three points after the first quarter, Leonie Fiebich remained scoreless, and though Jonquel Jones put in serious work in the paint, cleaning the glass and protecting the rim doesn’t add points to the board.

But the Lynx went through the same thing. They shot 45% from the floor, but the Liberty’s defense still showed up on the box score and on film: Napheesa Collier had seven of Minnesota’s twenty turnovers, leading to 26 Liberty points.

As only Cheryl Reeve can: “Our offense was bad at a time when we really needed it. Our pace was slow, taking too long to get into things. And, you know it was terrible. And that was obviously a difficult time to be doing that.”

Toward the end of a nerve-wracking second half that never saw the Lynx take the lead but saw them inch within a possession close enough to quicken the heart-rates of traumatized Liberty fans, it was another Lynx turnover than led to the dagger, an unconscious Fiebich on the fast-break...

(Anybody remember Ali Farokhmanesh?)

Reeve is right that her team played poorly. However, it’s understandable that Courtney Williams, who shot a scary 7-of-14 on many of those pull-up jumpers she loves, dribbled it off her foot at the mere sight of Breanna Stewart, who finished with a 21/8/5/7/1 line. Those seven steals are a WNBA Finals record, but it was the one block that may have been the most impressive...

The zero-time(!!) DPOY said her focus entering the game was “not letting history repeat itself. Knowing game one happened, but how can we control game two? Honestly, the thought process was that we were trying to be up a little more,” against Minnesota’s guards like Williams, as per the above play.

New York’s once-sizable lead was whittled down to two in the mid-fourth, but Stewie was Tasmanian Devil’ing all over, helping at the rim, grabbing boards, and racking up the steals to prevent Minnesota from taking the lead.

That set the stage for a couple final Laney-Hamilton jumpers and Fiebich’s dagger, as the Liberty ended regulation on a 12-0 run, a complete reversal from Game 1’s house of horrors.

“Honestly, I’m not surprised she shot it,” said Nyara Sabally — who gave ten back-pat worthy minutes — of her countrywoman. “I’m not surprised. But I mean, if anybody is gonna shoot that, and if anybody’s gonna make that shot, it’s Leo.”

Have the Liberty excised all their demons? No. One brutal loss can’t get thrown out the window in a five-game series. But they excised some of them on Sunday afternoon, and though the road ahead is not going to get easier, it just got a little shorter.

“We’re not panicking. We just continue to play together and play hard. We know a lot of the things that happened tonight happened in the last game, and we continue to be resilient. Play through it.” - Breanna Stewart.

Final Score: New York Liberty 80, Minnesota Lynx 66

2024 WNBA Finals - Game Two Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Brooklyn Nets drop by

The Nets spent the morning Sunday at the Potomac Playground in Bed-Stuy celebrating the organization’s annual Practice the Park, then headed west to Barclays Center to root for the home team...

ICYMI, Nic Claxton came prepared...

The Liberty will not have their record-setting fans behind them in Game 3 of the Finals, as they head to Minneapolis to grab the upper-hand. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night from the Target Center.

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