The New York Liberty lost Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals to the Atlanta Dream. The score was 92-82. On the other coast, Becky Hammon said her Las Vegas Aces “played like ass and only lost by ten,” when really they lost by 11 to the Golden State Valkyries, but pedantry was not the point, and her point rings true for the Liberty as well. They played terribly.
They did not just lose, but they lost composure and focus and perhaps the goodwill they had built up whilst sweeping the Minnesota Lynx. (No matter
what Leonie Fiebich and Breanna Stewart say.) Allisha Gray left early with an injury, Rhyne Howard shot 5-of-20, and the Liberty still lost and deserved to lose. They turned it over 21 times, which led to 32 points, largely because so many of those turnovers were catastrophic, disgust-inducing pick-sixes. Here are some takeaways, including but not limited to the turnovers:
And here are more:
- Jordin Canada was awesome, putting up 25/1/4 with five steals. Crucially, she shot 4-of-6 from three after making < 30% of her regular-season threes, in line with her career averages. The Liberty helped liberally off of her, particularly in the gaps when Rhyne Howard or Allisha Gray were driving the ball; Canada didn’t really kill New York by dicing up Pauline Astier (or Rebekah Gardner) and dishing the rock. She hit threes and, again, took lazy passes to the house. I wonder how much, if at all, New York’s closeouts on her will change in Game 2.
- Per my tracking, New York exceeded their transition frequency in all five games this season against the Minnesota Lynx. They’re now below their transition freq% average in all four games against Atlanta, and Sunday was particularly ugly, as they played on the fastbreak in just 8% of possible possessions.
- It was very nice to see Sabrina Ionescu hit some pull-up threes, the shot that has quietly deadened her efficiency over the last few seasons. The Liberty don’t need this to be a long-term development, exactly, just a short-term spark to win this series.
- Angel Reese was great: 17/7/2 with seven stocks. She also was visibly gassed for much of the second half. Can New York involve Jonquel Jones in the offense directly and intentionally outside of ham-fisted post-up attempts? I expect to see more inverted PnR for Jones, maybe with Ionescu as a screener, or as a single-side shooter ready to fire and/or attack Reese’s closeouts off the pick-and-roll. I understand why Jones is frustrated about a lack of post opportunities against a thin (literally not figuratively) ATL frontcourt, but the beauty of her game is how diverse her usage can be. Game 2 feels like a spot where she’s the focal point early. Said Ionescu: “I need to find a way to get everyone else in in better positions. I had one assist, so I think I got to find ways to get JJ going a little bit more…”
- Will Chris DeMarco go with Marine Fauthoux over Marine Johannès on Wednesday night. That would be incredibly bold, but given how each Marine played on Sunday…there’s a case for it. Marine Fauthoux shot 0-of-4, but didn’t turn it over and played the pick-and-roll with nice pace, using re-screens and timing to generate some turnover-free offense for NYL.
- For what it’s worth, I still think the Liberty win this series. Their halfcourt defense held up pretty well, and now Allisha Gray is clearly banged up for Atlanta. In other words, they played like ass and only lost by ten. It was five with five to go. Shoutout Becky Hammon.
Next Up
Wednesday night, Game 2. Still on the road, tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The New York Liberty, as poorly as they played to begin the series, are one win away from snatching the driver’s seat away from the Dream.
