WNBA Finals: New York state of mind — Liberty vow to put Game 1 collapse behind them and move forward

NEW YORK — Napheesa Collier rewatched the Game 1 broadcast, even though the Minnesota Lynx star never usually does, because it was all such a blur. The MVP runner-up didn’t remember Courtney Williams, her 5-foot-8 point guard, getting down hill and finishing against 6-foot-6 center Jonquel Jones. She was in awe.

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart watched it back once in full, too. She felt better after seeing her missed free throw that would have won the game for the Liberty. The third-place MVP finisher was in her routine, didn’t come off the line too quickly and did everything she usually does. There was no awestruck, but there was optimism.

“I’ll continue to shoot them and the next one is going in,” Stewart said after the Liberty practiced on Saturday at Barclays Center.

The Liberty are “film addicts” right now, she said, the same as they were in the semifinals and the first-round. Same as last year’s Finals series. But this year, they’re also tasked with taking accountability, regrouping and avoiding panic so as to not allow the emotion of Game 1’s collapse shift the series out of their grasp.

“This is just part of our journey. This is just part of the story,” Liberty point guard Courtney Vandersloot said after Game 1. “And this is something that we can talk about one or two ways at the end. We’re looking at changing the course of this.”

After the Liberty blew a 15-point lead in the final five minutes and lost, 95-93, in overtime, Vandersloot said she told the team to feel the bad emotions but to leave them behind on their way out the doors that night. Players took accountability at practice Saturday and turned the page toward the task at hand. It should never have come down to Stewart’s missed free throw, or even her open look in the final seconds of overtime.

“[Stewart] didn’t lose the game. We lost that before,” head coach Sandy Brondello said. “It’s no one’s fault, it’s all of our faults and no one’s fault in that regard.”

It’s a series for a reason, multiple players said. They’re focused on Game 2 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET on ABC) and seem ready to tip early if they could.

“We’re just really hungry and eager for our bounce back,” Stewart said of a game that’s nearly a must-win with the series heading to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4.

The Liberty didn’t execute well offensively, settled for shots and failed to play at a good pace. They knew the Lynx defensive switches were coming and couldn’t counter. It’s the fourth loss to Minnesota in five tries this year.

Defensively, they allowed 84 points in regulation (eight more than their average) and a total 42 points in the paint (seven more than average). The Liberty are a middling 4-6 in the regular season when they give up 83 or more points. Williams burned them not only with her late scoring but her ability to get Collier open.

“Everyone’s disappointed, but you keep [the team] on the job at hand,” Brondello said. “We can’t think about that, how that felt [in Game 1]. Can’t change it. So what are we going to do about it? And that’s our goal as we move forward.”

Brondello wants the Liberty to hit on screens better so Jones can roll and they want to utilize her consistently, including drawing attention for kick-out passes. Jones led New York with 24 points and 10 rebounds, but went scoreless on four shots in the second quarter and made one of only two attempts in the pivotal fourth. The center is making her fourth Finals appearance and is the key asset toward the franchise’s first championship.

Yet, even her standout play alone — coupled with a strong game by Leonie Fiebich from 3-point range — couldn’t lift them against the Lynx’s defense in a déjà vu aura from the 2023 Finals against Las Vegas. The Liberty attempted 90 shots, an incredible number that’s 12 more than their season high and 22 more than their season average. None of them was easy and that needs to change in Game 2.

“The players that normally have the ball in their hand and are able to come down and come off a pick-and-roll and wheel and deal and set up the offense, [the Lynx] don’t allow it as easily,” guard Sabrina Ionescu said. “But they’re also not perfect, and so I think we understand watching that game where we’re able to get [Jones] going, establishing her inside, ways that we were able to get people going with our height advantage and our post play and how that can open up the floor for everyone.”

Ionescu said the locker room was “pretty quiet” after the first game ended, but they began talking about the mistakes collectively and individually.

“That’s a powerful locker room when you can take ownership on the things that you didn’t do well and kind of commit to doing them better, instead of just pointing the finger,” Ionescu said.

New York lost Game 1 of the 2023 semifinals at home to Connecticut, but swept the next three games, Ionescu remembered. Minnesota lost its first game of this year’s semifinals (also to Connecticut), but still punched its Finals berth by the end of the series.

“You can’t let the last game affect your next one,” Ionescu said. “You just have to learn from it.”

Ionescu is excited to punish the holes she saw in the Lynx defense while watching film. Stewart spent the days between games watching clips as if they were on-court reps, making sure the “scout is well ingrained in our minds.” The Liberty need to make sure they’re locked in and ready with “10 toes down,” Stewart said. In her mind, it’s simply another battle through adversity they’ve forged through for more than a year.

“One thing I’ve been thinking a lot is there’s beauty in the struggle,” Stewart said. “And that’s really where we’re at right now.”