The Liberty entered Friday night as the best team in New York — and the whole tri-state area, too.
Facing their premier Eastern Conference competition, the Connecticut Sun (25-12) at Barclays Center, the Liberty (29-7) showed why they’ve been the best team in the WNBA over the last month with their fifth straight victory, this one a dominant 89-58 win.
Sabrina Ionescu, who has a right calf injury, was out for what head coach Sandy Brondello said were precautionary reasons, but the Liberty didn’t need her.
A wire-to-wire effort smothered the lackadaisical Sun, who were playing the second half of a back-to-back.
Led by Breanna Stewart’s double-double, 19 points from Betnijah Laney and 18 by Marine Johannes, the red-hot Liberty improved to 14-2 over their last 16 games, the best mark in the WNBA over that time.
“From really how we started this season to where we are now and just the growth, the experience, the way that we kind of lock in and realize that every moment matters,” Stewart said, referring to the team’s title hopes. “It’s something that you see on championship teams and [we] know that everybody’s going to give us their best shot. … We want to be our best come playoff time and just continue to peak at the right time.”
The Liberty needed more scoring on the perimeter because of Ionescu’s absence, and versatile wing Laney scored 10 early points en route to finishing as one of five Liberty players in double figures.
during the Liberty’s 89-58 win over the Sun.
The game was more than just a battle for Eastern Conference supremacy: MVP consideration may have been on the line, too.
Connecticut’s star forward, Alyssa Thomas, arrived as a contender for the award along with Stewart, and the Liberty star won the battle in this one. Stewart, who is averaging 23 points and nine rebounds in another phenomenal season, finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.
Thomas scored just eight points on 2-for-9 shooting.
“I don’t think it’s just been tonight, I think it’s been all season long,” Laney said of Stewart’s MVP case. “And I’m not just saying that because she’s my teammate. She hits every mark on the stat sheet, and so for her to be able to do that and lead us to this moment where we are right now, I think she’s already made a strong case for herself.”
The Liberty jumped to a 17-point halftime lead in signature fashion: nailing four 3-pointers and playing stout defense — highlighted by center Jonquel Jones stuffing Thomas at the rim in the first quarter.
But the floodgates really opened in the third quarter, when the Liberty outscored the Sun by seven, opening a lead that grew to as much as 27.
That allowed the Liberty to give their reserves some opportunities in the second half, including fan favorite Han Xu, who entered to roaring applause in the fourth quarter.
The Liberty’s defense was perhaps the key driver behind their win.
They held the Sun, the WNBA’s fourth-ranked offense, to just 58 points on 33.3 percent shooting, the team’s lowest-scoring effort of the year.
“I thought were locked in,” Brondello said. “Their engagement, they’re talking to each other about how we want to play and communicating.
“That’s what makes teams really special because they’re not just being spoon-fed.”
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