Let me get this out of the way before I dive into the game. When Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Napheesa Collier as the MVP, anyone who was watching, either a Lynx fan or a Liberty, knew that Bridget Carleton deserved that award. Napheesa knew, and said so, with honesty and dignity. Not that Phee didn’t have an excellent game, but BC was instrumental in the win.
Handing Collier the trophy was politics and politics, as we all know, is unavoidable, which is unfortunate. Bridget, being the dignified player that she is, in all likelihood knows that. People are going to add their unnecessary two cents worth on social media. So what. End of story.
I really didn’t know what kind of game this would be. Certainly, it was a partisan crowd, which you’d expect, even on a semi-neutral court. Both of these teams are elite, and as such, provided us with elite basketball.
Battle Between Two Elite Teams
Did the Liberty turn the ball over too much? Yes, and the Lynx capitalized on that. Did Minnesota take advantage of the fast break? Yes. Did they also lag in rebounds? Yes. What is interesting is that each team took the same number of shots, 69 each, and the same number of 3-point attempts, 29 each. That’s how close this game was. Jonquel Jones was held to 3 points, all free throws.
Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart combined for over half of the Liberty’s points. Cecilia Zandalasini came off the bench for Minnesota and instantly made an impact. In fact, every Lynx player contributed, regardless of points or minutes. That is part of their identity, preparedness, and the next-player-up mentality. Kayla Thornton and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton played solid minutes with solid results. So where did the Liberty go wrong?
One of the reasons that I tend to ignore the pundits and so-called experts is that they very often are way too quick to explain why something did or didn’t happen. I’m going to coin a new word here and call it BALLSPLAINING.
Yes, the Liberty turned the ball over too many times. Yes, the Lynx could have defended the three better. However, what went right in this game far outweighed what went wrong. Ionescu is going to make those shots. So is Stewart. That Jones only scored three points was due to tight defense from Minnesota. New York took advantage of too many open 3s. Considering that neither team ever took an insurmountable lead is a testament to the resiliency of these squads. It was a true game of runs.
The Lynx and Their Hard-Fought Win
Neither team had an overabundance of fouls, and at no time did either team falter so badly as to create an impossible mountain to climb. So where did the Liberty go wrong? They didn’t. They did what they needed to do to win, but so did Minnesota. On this night, the Lynx won. Certainly a much tighter game than when they met at Target Center back in May when the Lynx dominated.
No one dominated in this game, but rather played a game that one might expect from two elite teams. I’m going to call it a civilized slugfest. No drama, no provocative media soundbites, just good, solid, professional basketball.
Are both of these teams potential finalists for the league championship? The Liberty has always been considered so, and now the Lynx should be firmly planted in that conversation. The Lynx seems to excel at tuning out the noise. The Liberty will take what they need from this game and will continue on a championship path.
While in some ways there has been an undue amount of distractions this season, both of these teams seem immune to it, which is certainly a credit to character and leadership. Neither Sandy Brondello nor Cheryl Reeves are strangers to this, and neither will be affected by it.
In a week, these teams will face off again, this time at Barclays Center. The stats will count and the win or loss will count. Before that, the Lynx head to Dallas for a game on Tuesday, and the Liberty will welcome Atlanta to Brooklyn on Sunday. Back to business. For the Liberty and the Lynx, I’d say business looks pretty damn good.
And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.
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