MINNEAPOLIS — The Liberty and Lynx sure know how to deliver cinema.
Every time these rivals square off, the stakes feel higher, and Saturday’s matinee was no different.
They exchanged baskets and went on runs. Blood was drawn. Technical fouls were handed out.
The Liberty, led by Sabrina Ionescu, mounted a thrilling third-quarter comeback, but they couldn’t hold on, falling to the Lynx 90-85.
Leonie Fiebich said last week it’s “personal” whenever the Lynx and Liberty meet. Jonquel Jones wouldn’t go as far as to say that, but she did confirm “you definitely get up to play them.”
“It’s one of those teams that you definitely have marked off on your calendar,” Jones said. “That’s one of those teams that you measure yourself against and that you definitely want to show up and play your best against.”
The Lynx might still be waiting for Napheesa Collier to make her season debut but they’ve cemented themselves as one of the league’s best teams, improving to 17-6 with Saturday’s win.
Meanwhile, the Liberty, playing without Fiebich (left foot soreness) and Satou Sabally (concussion protocol), dropped to 13-10 and are in seventh place as the All-Star break draws near.
There’s no reason to panic at this point, of course. Various injuries have resulted in first-year coach Chris DeMarco playing musical chairs with his lineups all season and prevented the team from building chemistry and establishing a true identity.
And Ionescu said the team isn’t measuring its performances by wins and losses.
“It’s always been, personally, are you doing your absolute best every single time you step out on the floor?” Ionescu said. “And it doesn’t mean every year you don’t win, it’s a failure. … Obviously we want to win every single time we step out on the floor but it’s a process and we didn’t win or lose a championship in today’s game.”
The Lynx looked well in control of Saturday’s game near the midway point of the third quarter.
They led by 15 and had their home crowd buzzing. It looked like they were going to sail to a comfortable win against the short-handed Liberty.
But Ionescu had other plans.
She scored 19 of her 25 points in the third quarter, shooting 7-for-10 from the field.
The Liberty trailed by 15 with less than five minutes left in the third. But the game’s momentum flipped in favor of the Liberty.
Covering the Liberty like never before
Sign up for Madeline Kenney’s Inside the Liberty, a weekly Sports+ newsletter.
Thank you
Ionescu stayed hot. Marine Johannes hit a pair of timely 3s. The Liberty’s defense stalled the Lynx’s offense.
The Libs went on a 21-5 run to close the quarter and take a one-point lead.
The Lynx punched back in the fourth. They generated plenty of second-chance opportunities and took 12 trips to the free-throw line.
The Liberty started to lose the battle. Han Xu received her first career technical foul for bouncing the ball in frustration. Moments later, DeMarco got a technical foul for barking at the refs.
Kayla McBride scored 14 of her 25 points in the final 10 minutes.
Olivia Miles delivered the final blow, sealing the Lynx’s win with a pair of free throws to cap a 23-point, five-rebound and four-assist day.
The Liberty are 5-5 in the clutch, which is the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points.
Overall, Jones thought the Liberty did a lot of things well. They cut down their turnovers in the second half and turned seven Lynx turnovers into 20 points.
But Saturday was yet another lesson.
“We just have to stop digging ourselves these very big, very deep holes that we have to get out of,” Jones said. “If we could stop doing that and mitigate that and then put our second half together that we’ve been doing, we’ll be great.”
