New York Liberty lose Game 4 of WNBA Finals to Minnesota Lynx, 82-80
It was always going to go five, right?
The New York Liberty may have handed the Minnesota Lynx a stomach-churning punch with Sabrina Ionescu’s game-winner in Game 3, but it could not have been a knockout blow. Not the way this series has gone. Not after the Liberty bounced back from their Game 1 collapse to win the next two, not after the quality and drama of the first three games and 35 minutes of this series.
Are we zooming out too much, though? Maybe the Liberty just lost another game they were supposed to win. Okay, “supposed to” is a bit harsh, given that their biggest lead of the game was seven, given Minnesota was facing elimination on their home floor, where they hadn’t lost two straight all season.
Because the Liberty did take a five-point lead following a back-and-forth first quarter; the offense was clicking despite Breanna Stewart starting the game 0-of-8, and the Lynx were on the ropes. Alanna Smith was gritting through a back injury that had here nearly unable to run by the end of her shifts, Cheryl Reeve was playing 8th and 9th women Dorka Juhasz and Cecilia Zandalasini series-high minutes, searching for support.
But New York could not separate. In the first half, it was their defense, missing the rotations on the perimeter that — for the first time all Finals — were reminiscent of their regular-season losses to Minnesota.
In the second half, it was their offense. After Stewart’s Hall-of-Fame performance in Game 3, she played perhaps her worst game of the season in Game 4. She battled preventable foul trouble, she missed rebounds she normally secures in her sleep, and she didn’t just miss shots, but forced them…
