Coming out of the World Cup break there was hope that Minnesota would bounce back to their winning ways. Instead, on Friday night, the Lynx just bounced off the bodies of New York Liberty defenders. Presumptive Rookie of the Year Olivia Miles continues to get special attention by opposing defenses. Tonight was no different. The Liberty’s rookie Pauline Astier put Miles in the pressure cooker (Le Creuset?) for all 94 feet, forcing the be-speckled guard to call for passes over the fronting Astier just to get a step
of breathing room.
The game was played with the same physical aggression the Lynx have seen in their past two losses against the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream. Five players across both sides were whistled for at least four fouls a piece. Jonquel Jones was whistled for a Flagrant 1 on the same play Kayla McBride was whistled for a defensive foul. Midway through the third the “Refs you suck” chant echoed within the Target Center.
Not backing down, Minnesota battled on the glass and won the rebounding (47-45) and points in the paint (44-38) matchup agains the bigger team. Winning the defensive rebounding battle is a core tenant of Coach Cheryl Reeve’s philosophy but its only half the battle. You still have to walk the length of the court and do what your opponent couldn’t the play before. In this matchup though the Liberty picked their spots well, sacrificing the scrap for offensive boards to prioritize getting back on defense. In addition to making Miles work to just cross halfcourt, they limited the Lynx to seven fast break points and forced them to finish through contact in the paint vs rely on their jump shooting.
In the first half the Lynx shot a woeful 35% from the field. The second quarter saw four lead changes and three ties. In the midst of this back and forth the Liberty ended the second quarter on a 12-4 run. Worse still, they kept the home team to one made field goal in the last six minutes of the half
Rust vs. Ready
There was a collective sigh for Minnesota going into the World Cup break. A chance to rest Kayla McBride, Miles, Courtney Williams, and Natasha Howard, all of whom are in the top 20 in the league for minutes played this season. The Lynx had only one starter called to play for team and country, Napheesa Collier who led the team in +/- with -6. The Liberty had three, Breanna Stewart, Astier, Leonie Fiebich, along with Johannes and Allen off the bench. Only Minnesota’s Dorka Juhász and Chloe Bibby saw action both in the World Cup and tonight.
I don’t know how much rust can be blamed for Minnesota’s performance but every push they made was quickly answered by the Liberty. The usual fourth quarter Lynx walk down was replaced by a scramble for extra possessions that they quickly gave back on the other end. NY’s Coach Chris DeMarco had his squad focused with a “next-play” mentality. Time and time again the Lynx picked up their dribble without a plan. Their pass out picked off by expectant defenders. The team out of Brooklyn pilfered the ball 12 times. This, along with seven other Lynx turnovers led to 21 Liberty points.
Time and time again, Stewie, Sabrina Ionescu, and Altier put the Lynx defense in the blender with quick passes that ended on an open shot. Multiple times if that shot didn’t go in, a befuddled and spun about Lynx team gave up another chance that was capitalized on. And so every run Minnesota mounted was quickly outpaced.
Lid On The Basket
Minnesota shot a paltry six for 22 from three tonight. Some of these were wide open shots. Some of those shots were on the same possession as the usually deadeye McBride clanked back to back shots after her first miss was corralled by Howard. Through the first half, the Liberty had similar struggles missing all seven of their attempts in the second quarter. In the third though, Fiebich pried the lid off the basket, answering a McBride three on the prior play. Two minutes later and New York poured in more points from deep, starting with Ionescu from 27 feet, and then Marine Johannes hit three in a row over the span of 80 seconds to close out the third.
In the fourth the Lynx missed every one of their attempts including the aforementioned two on the same possession. After another lead change on a Miles three-point play the old fashioned way, Stewie hit a three to retake the lead 70-69. Astier hit another three on the next possession. 90 seconds after that it was Astier again from nearly the same spot. A pair of Ionescu misses were quickly forgotten as Jonquel Jones drilled the dagger to put New York up 89-81 with roughly a minute to play.
The rest of the game Minnesota put on a brave face, lunging for balls, committing fouls, throwing up more off-kilter layups. Throughout it all, the Liberty remained unflappable as they closed out their potential first round playoff matchup.
Records Tied
It was a night for record book changing. Stewart’s 24 points were enough to surpass her former teammate Sue Bird for 9th all-time in scoring in the WNBA. She now has 6,806 in her storied career. She finished the game with 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals as well. Meanwhile Miles tied up Caitlin Clark’s record for most points scored in a rookie season at 769.
With three games left to play, the odds appear in Miles’ favor to take sole ownership of the top spot.
Open Book, But Who Is Reading It
Whether the book is out on how to play the Lynx or the Lynx are still learning how to handle teams that play with increased physicality, one thing is true, they will continue to see games dragged into the mud. If they think this stretch is difficult now, it will only get harder in the playoffs.
Next up, the Lynx play an afternoon bout against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, September 20th at 12:00pm CT on Victory+. With a win, they will still need at least one win in two tries against the Indiana Fever or a Golden State Valkyries loss to lock up the top seed.
