New York Liberty finally wake up, rally to beat Los Angeles Sparks 89-79

New York was moving in slow motion through one half, then dominated the third quarter to get back in the win column vs. the lowly L.A. Sparks

Just as the alarms were about the sound, the New York Liberty got themselves together.

After starting the season 9-0, the defending champions lost five of seven games, including a 1-3 road trip without Jonquel Jones, who isn’t projected back until after the All-Star break. That’s a problem on its own, but more concerning than a sprained ankle was a lack of toughness, of effort.

Sandy Brondello expected that to change on Thursday night when her team hosted the Los Angeles Sparks: “It’s getting back to what our identity is. And I thought we went away from that on the road trip, and getting back to the fundamentals of having some toughness and physicality. Really, it wasn’t about the schemes. Schemes don’t work if you don’t have that first. So it’s just a little bit of attention to detail and not being happy with where we’re at at both ends of the floor.”

Still, New York did not reutrn home in dire straits. At 11-5, they were still the WNBA’s #2 seed, and had just lost to the Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury, and Seattle Storm on the road. All strong teams. To boot, the Liberty were welcoming back Leonie Fiebich, who had missed the roadie while playing at EuroBasket.

Then they came out and lost the first half by four points to the 5-12 Los Angeles Sparks. Then they gave up five straight points to start the third quarter. Their play, more so than on the road trip, was unacceptable…

“We have to be able to throw the first punch,” said Natasha Cloud. “And obviously, we started slow today, so we got to figure it out within our locker room, and that’s something that we talked about at halftime, just having the accountability.”

Many of the issues were on the defensive side of the ball, same as the road trip. Every time the Sparks scored in the first half, it was at the rim — they only made one 3-pointer but shot 17 free-throws…

Said Brondello: “In the start, they had layups, because our help wasn’t in the spot, our low-man wasn’t in the position where we need to be, and that’s, you know, everyone has to be disciplined on defense. And it starts on the ball — it still started on the ball — but there’s positioning behind it.”

That bled into the Liberty’s offensive struggles, as the hosts couldn’t get out and run easily. In the half-court, L.A.’s switching gave the Liberty pause, though it didn’t completely dismantle them. Though Sabrina Ionescu’s struggles continued with a 1-of-10 start, Leonie Fiebich infuriatingly passed up some open 3-point looks, and there was little rhythm to the offense, the worst part was New York’s inability to hit open shots.

Only Marine Johannès could raise the energy…

All this was weighing on Brondello and her team when she called timeout early in the third, down 46-37. By the end of the third quarter, New York was up ten. Breathe out.

They went on an electric 27-6 run to end the period, during which Sparks coach Lynne Roberts called just one timeout, and it was classic Liberty ball. They finally hit some threes, which created driving lanes for Natasha Cloud & Co. to attack, but their biggest plays came off turnovers, including this and-1 by Isabelle Harrison that blew the roof off Barclays…

Harrsion stole Nyara Sabally’s minutes in the second half, a troublesome long-term storyline, but on Thursday night, Harrison deserved all the shine, posting 7/4/2/0/2 in a dozen strong minutes off the bench.

Said Brondello: “I just thought we went with what we thought we needed to win. It was a must win game, and Izzy gave us bigger minutes, so we honed in on that.”

After Ionescu and Breanna Stewart took 22 of New York’s 37 shots in the first half, they combined for just 14 attempts in the second half. The ball swung to all sides of the court more often; Harrison was big, Kennedy Burke finished 4-of-6 from deep, but Natasha Cloud soared with a team-high 23/4/7 on 7-of-12 shooting.

She made jumpers, got downhill, and did everything that she did in her first week of the season, everything the Liberty could want from her…

“I mean, we were adjusting a bit better for their switching,” said Leonie Fiebich of the second half. “We couldn’t really find a solution. We were a bit too slow, I think, in the first half. In the second half, we were moving the ball better and finding better solutions.”

New York never relinquished that double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, though it did dwindle. They played mediocre ball in the first half, and decent ball in the fourth quarter. But for ten minutes, they found themselves, and that was enough to win the game.

“It was more about getting the physicality back defensively and then running out of that,” said Brondello. “And Sabrina got going. It was a pretty tough first half for her, and pretty tough to start at the third too, but she got going, and that’s what we need from her. You need your best players, you know, playing well every game.”

Indeed, Ionescu shot 6-of-8 in the second half to finish with 18/6/6, despite seven turnovers. Seemingly healthy, there were no excuses for her poor play in the first half, though there’s not much to say about missing open shots. Then Ionescu made up for it in the second half, even if she’ll need to put together more complete performances going forward.

Sounds like the Liberty as a whole, really. But a win is a win.

When asked if such a dominant third quarter made the win even sweeter after the team struggled coming out of halftime for much of May and June, Natasha Cloud said it best.

“No. I want that s*** to happen in the first quarter.”

Final Score: New York Liberty 89, Los Angeles Sparks 79

Next Up

Photo by Andrew J. Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images

The New York Liberty take on the Seattle Storm at Barclays Center, looking to avenge a loss. This one should be good. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.

• Boxscore: New York Liberty 89, Los Angeles Sparks 79 – WNBA
• Game Highlights: New York Liberty 89, Los Angeles Sparks 79 (Video) – WNBA
• Natasha Cloud and Sabrina Ionescu lift the Liberty to an 89-79 win over the Sparks – AP
• Natasha Cloud, Sabrina Ionescu lead Liberty to comeback win over Sparks – Madeline Kenney – New York Post
• Liberty’s Natasha Cloud thrilled to see WNBA Philadelphia ‘dream’ come to fruition – Madeline Kenney – New York Post