The New York Liberty lost to the Atlanta Dream on Saturday afternoon.
The game was never really close. The Dream raced out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter, and aside from a window-dressing push in the fourth quarter, the Liberty did not make inroads. Atlanta never panicked, nor did they have reason to. Like the Chicago Sky before them, the Dream destroyed New York on the boards, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds.
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You could sense it coming when Sandy Brondello revealed, pregame, that Sabrina Ionescu did not make the trip south. Toward the end of New York’s uninspiring loss on Thursday, Ionescu got tangled up with the much bigger Kamilla Cardoso, and exited the exchange favoring her left foot.
When asked how it was feeling postgame, she said: “Hopefully better tomorrow. She landed really hard on my foot, so yeah, hopefully I feel better tomorrow.”
Evidently, Ionescu did not. Sandy Brondello didn’t seem too worried about it, long-term…
…but it just exacerbated their poor effort vs. Chicago. They get outworked by an inferior team, and though Ariel Atkins and Angel Reese were both back and playing, the Sky still entered with a -12 net rating with those two on the court. Lose to them? Sure, it’s the WNBA, it happens. But to get outworked like that at this point in the season? It just stunk.
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And the basketball gods were not going to let the Liberty get away with it so easily. They shuffled into Atlanta on Saturday afternoon, nearly 36 hours after the completion of that loss. No Ionescu. Against one of the league’s hottest teams, the current #2 seed. It went as you thought it would.
Without ascribing a sort of hackneyed, they don’t want it enough, lazy sportswriter lens to the loss, the effort wasn’t there. The attention to detail wasn’t there. And it’s understandable why, given the schedule and their injuries, but hey, winning is hard. You don’t get it done like this…
The Liberty know this. The reporters know it. The fans — who, because they are fans, express this knowledge in increasingly distressed tones and frantic opinions — know it. The team not only needs to get healthy for the playoffs, but when/if they do, clean up all these mistakes. The raw talent on this team suggests that the margin of error is high, but how high?
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“We’re on the struggle bus,” said Head Coach Sandy Brondello. “We know that. We’re getting some really good players back, but we know it won’t just automatically change.”
None of this is new information. Nor, unfortunately, are these type of losses. The Dream had it won by halftime, though the Liberty saved a little face in the second half, and Brondello did too in the presser: “I thought the second half was, you know, way, way better. I think we saw a way more connected team, and it was good to go to the bench, and they played really hard.”
And honestly, they did. Natasha Cloud willed her way to the rim, only to miss layups, but the Liberty needed her downhill drives. Rebekah Gardner and Steph Talbot crashed the offensive glass hard. They forced a few late shot-clock possessions for Atlanta, showcasing the connected defense they’ll need to play all playoffs long. But then they had to go down the other way to try and score without Stewie or Sabrina…
Or they just wouldn’t secure the defensive rebound in the first place. Sometimes, there’s just not enough gas in the tank.
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“But just our lack of blocking out — you know, our defense might be okay, and then we don’t finish it off. And that’s really what hurts is, it’s kind of deflating,” said Brondello.
Thankfully, no Liberty player hit 30 minutes. Kennedy Burke led the team with 13 points off the bench, while Jonquel Jones hit three triples en route to 11 of her own. Marine Johannès, taking Ionescu’s spot in the starting lineup, never got going, shooting 3-of-12 and failing to save the Liberty with a bunch of insane shot-making, an unfair task though one she is capable of.
Atlanta only shot 10-of-38 from three — good for 26.3%, slightly worse than the Liberty — but every make was a gut-punch. The Liberty needed every bounce to go their way, but that was too much to ask. Allisha Gray and Brionna Jones, as they are wont to do, led the way for the home team, combining for 36 points.
There’s just not much else to say. Do the Liberty have the juice this year? Doesn’t feel like it, though we won’t truly know the answer until they are healthy and in the playoffs. Until then, all we are left to do is try and allocate blame, try to make sense of their miscues. Yes, they are gassed, but should it be better? What’s an effort-related mistake and what isn’t? How much lies at the feet of Sandy Brondello?
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Whatever the answers to any of these questions are, it doesn’t change the fact that Atlanta has now tied the season series, and the Liberty have fallen to fifth place in the standings.
Shouldn’t have lost to Chicago, eh?
Final Score: Atlanta Dream 78, New York Liberty 62
Next Up
Sabrina Ionescu will likely be listed as questionable heading into the New York Liberty’s next game, a tilt with the Connecticut Sun at home. Tip-off is scheduled for Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. ET.
