Inside the Barclays Center Wednesday night, there was a feeling of, “Oh no, not this again.”
The Liberty opened the second half flat. The Phoenix Mercury were the aggressors and built a six-point lead.
Coach Chris DeMarco called a timeout. It’s not immediately clear what was said, but a message was received.
A switch flipped. The defensive intensity amplified. The attention to detail magnified. The Liberty played invigorated.
New York bullied the Mercury as if they were stealing their lunch money. With each basket made, Phoenix’ light dimmed. With each Mercury turnover (seven in total in the third quarter), the Liberty surged.
New York closed the quarter on a wildly impressive 23-0 run that left the Mercury absolutely rattled and sent Barclays Center into hysteria.
The Liberty took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter and never let the Mercury back in, snapping a three-game losing skid with an 84-74 win.
Wednesday was bound to bring an added layer of intensity from the Liberty after the Mercury booted them in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
“One-hundred percent,” Leonie Fiebich said. “I mean, all the people that were here last year, we can still feel that, and we’re gonna go out tonight with that kind of feeling.”
The Liberty entered Wednesday on a three-game skid, with frustration brewing from the team’s choppy 3-4 start. New York also had a reality check Tuesday during a lengthy film session that shined a spotlight on the team’s live-ball turnovers and correctable miscues.
Even though the Liberty are still without Sabrina Ionescu (back soreness) and Satou Sabally (illness), New York needed to be better.
There were signs of improvement during the team’s first half. It helped, of course, that Marine Johannès got hot from beyond the arc, making 7-of-9 attempts from deep for 21 points.
The team looked more intentional on defense.
But the best part was a third quarter that featured New York’s best run of the season.
The Liberty shot 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from the field, including 4-for-8 from deep.
Jonquel Jones logged 10 points, four rebounds and three assists during that quarter. She finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
There’s still plenty of room for improvement. But Wednesday was a clear step forward after a poor start to this homestand.
“It’s the beginning of the season, and we still were missing pieces,” Fiebich said, “but I think we’re in a good (spot). Also, defensively, I think we got a lot to improve on.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
