Liberty bounce back with Game 2 win in WNBA Finals as stars step up vs. Lynx

The Liberty person life.

They person their stars to thank.

Bounce-back performances by Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu and a postseason-best effort by Betjinah Laney-Hamilton led the Liberty to an 80-66 triumph implicit the Minnesota Lynx successful Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, evening the best-of-five bid astatine 1-1 aft losing an all-time stunner successful Game 1.

Stewart led the Liberty with 21 points to spell with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 7 steals connected Sunday day astatine Barclays Center.

Ionescu acceptable the code by scoring 12 of her 15 points successful the archetypal quarter.

And Laney-Hamilton added 20 points connected 8-for-14 shooting, contempt a nagging genu injury.

Ionescu scored connected the Liberty’s archetypal 2 possessions, opening with a modulation lay-up disconnected of a Jonquel Jones steal, past sinking a 3-pointer connected an assistance from Stewart.

The sharp-shooting Ionescu added different 3-pointer astir 2 minutes aboriginal – again disconnected of a Stewart assistance – and celebrated with a Michael Jordan-esque enarthrosis motion arsenic she jogged up the court.

Ionescu started the crippled 4-for-5 from the tract and finished 5-for-9.

It was an businesslike effort by Ionescu, who changeable conscionable 8-for-26 successful Thursday’s Game 1 nonaccomplishment aft 31.6% shooting successful past year’s Finals nonaccomplishment to the Las Vegas Aces.

Stewart, meanwhile, scored 7 points and dished retired each 5 of her assists successful Sunday’s archetypal quarter, aft which the Liberty led, 31-21.

The accelerated commencement was notable for Stewart, who came up abbreviated successful Game 1 by missing a would-be-game-winning escaped propulsion with little than a 2nd remaining successful regularisation and failed to decorativeness a would-be-game-tying lay-up arsenic clip expired successful overtime.

Stewart, a two-time champion and Finals MVP with the Seattle Storm, finished Game 1 with 18 points connected 6-of-21 shooting.

The Liberty players had expressed assurance successful their resiliency aft losing Game 1, 95-93, contempt starring by 18 points successful the archetypal half, 15 points successful the 4th fourth and 3 points with nether 10 seconds near successful regulation.

A sold-out Game 2 assemblage – possibly a spot tense pursuing Thursday’s shocker – grew progressively louder with each aboriginal handbasket from the Liberty, who went 13-for-18, including 5-for-9 from deep, successful the archetypal quarter.

The Liberty were 16-for-26 from the tract midway done the 2nd quarter, demonstrating awesome shot question to find bully looks much consistently than they did successful Game 1.

They led by arsenic galore arsenic 17 points successful the archetypal half, but conscionable similar connected Thursday, the Lynx closed the spread considerably successful the 2nd half.

Back-to-back baskets by Courtney Williams – whose four-point play successful the waning seconds of regularisation successful Game 1 proved pivotal – chopped Minnesota’s shortage to 53-47 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter.

About 3 minutes later, back-to-back baskets by Lynx prima Napheesa Collier – who delivered the game-winner connected Thursday – made it a 55-51 game.

But Collier, the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and the MVP runner-up, got into foul trouble, picking up her 4th foul precocious successful the 3rd quarter, which sent her to the bench.

Stewart, whom Collier defended for overmuch of the afternoon, scored 4 points successful the last 1:24 of the 3rd 4th without Collier connected the floor, including with a agelong jumper that enactment the Liberty up, 61-53.

The Lynx refused to spell distant successful the 4th quarter, doubly cutting the shortage to 2 points, but Laney-Hamilton drilled a country 3-pointer disconnected of an assistance from Ionescu with 3:21 remaining that proved to beryllium the dagger.

Laney-Hamilton had not scored much than 10 points successful a playoff crippled this twelvemonth earlier Sunday’s win, which took spot conscionable nether 3 months aft the versatile defender underwent country to cleanable up 2 escaped bodies successful her close knee.

Before the game, Liberty manager Sandy Brondello acknowledged the genu was inactive affecting Laney-Hamilton.

Jones, meanwhile, scored 14 points connected 6-of-13 shooting and led the Liberty with 9 rebounds.

The Lynx person recovered occurrence against Jones by crowding her with guardant Alanna Smith and others. Jones attempted five, 3 and 7 shots successful the Liberty’s 3 head-to-head losses to the Lynx this twelvemonth coming into the Finals.

Jones led some teams successful Game 1 with 24 points connected 9-of-14 shooting and with 10 rebounds, though the Liberty went distant from the 6-6 halfway for agelong stretches successful that game, allowing Minnesota to travel roaring back.

But the Lynx couldn’t implicit Sunday’s comeback bid, and present the bid heads to Minnesota, wherever Game 3 is acceptable to instrumentality spot connected Wednesday night.