The New York Liberty lost to the Indiana Fever 106-92 on Tuesday evening, but it wasn’t really that close. Indiana led by 21 toward the end of the first half, and though the Liberty did cut the deficit to a single-digit in the second half, the Fever quickly regained control.
New York had won seven games in eight tries entering this one, but against a particularly soft schedule. They beat a Dallas Wings team without Paige Bueckers, the B-team Las Vegas Aces, and no other team that will make the playoffs.
You play who you play, of course. And over a 44-game season, there really is no such thing as a strength-of-schedule factor. Perhaps that’s why I felt confident in the Liberty’s recent play; a 20-13 record entering Tuesday had them knocking on the door of a top-4 seed. They’re probably not a better team than Indiana without Leonie Fiebich and Satou Sabally, but the team maintains both players are expected back this season. In any case, Tuesday night should’ve been a fight.
It wasn’t. The Fever shot a ridiculous 11-of-14 from deep in the first half, hitting a couple nasty jumpers but many more open ones. The video below constitutes most of this recap. New York could not defend Indiana, hot shooting night or not, and that’s the story of this game…
It feels fair to point out the the Liberty are still 20-14 and even with the same roster could play much better against Indiana. Breanna Stewart shot 8-of-21 in part because she missed a ton of easy looks in the first half, while the team as a whole shot 31% from three. Only Jonquel Jones and Rebecca Allen could find the stroke. Still, New York was great on the glass, as they’ve been for some time now.
And yet, it’s fair to put real stock in this loss. The Liberty seem to be firmly in the tier below real contenders, if not a tier-and-a-half. There are two major steps for them to get back to contention. One is health, and the second is some cohesion with the currently injured Leonie Fiebich and Satou Sabally. We did this song and dance last season though, resulting in a first-round exit.
Indiana, 11-4 in their last 15, sure looked the part. Their fast-paced offense is lethal — the Liberty stopped scoring for a couple minutes in the second and third quarters and immediately got flattened. Caitlin Clark is making jumpers again, and nobody (certainly not the Liberty’s guards) can keep Kelsey Mitchell in front. Aliyah Boston is their third best player, somehow.
“There’s things we have to do better: contest some of those threes, and rotate better. But overall, we have to play our game, and we know that,” said a surprisingly content Chris DeMarco postgame.
DeMarco, Stewart, and Sabrina Ionescu weren’t cheerful after the loss. But they weren’t as upset as you might expect, constantly citing how well Indiana shot early. It probably felt like an avalanche out there. But the Liberty got it handed to them on national television, just about the worst possible way to end a winning streak, even if they threatened to make it interesting in the third quarter.
“I mean, it’s basically an effort thing,” said Stewie of the team’s mini-comeback. “Knowing that when you’re almost down 20 going into the third, you have to make up a lot of ground and you have to kind of make some s*** happen. I feel like we were continuing to rotate and find that second and third option, and that’s how we got it back within — I don’t even know — under 10? But to do that for 20 minutes is really tough.”
For a couple seasons, fans have rightfully complained about the inconsistency of this team. They could lose to anybody, they could beat anybody. But the opposite is much worse. Do the New York Liberty have a championship ceiling? Tuesday’s result sure ain’t a good sign.
FInal Score: Indiana Fever 106, New York Liberty 92
Next Up
The Liberty return home for one game only. They’ll take on the Los Angeles Sparks at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday evening before hitting the road once more.
