One week after falling to the Minnesota Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship game, the New York Liberty exacted revenge. Buoyed by the Barclays Center crowd, rather than the surroundings of UBS Arena, the Liberty used an 18-8 fourth quarter, which included a 15-0 run, to wrest control of the game and defeat the Lynx, 76-67.
If only New York’s players received a portion of a $500,000 prize pool for the victory. Alas, they’ll have to settle for padding their league-leading record of 17-3.
The play of Jonquel Jones, named an All-Star for the fifth time in her career later on Tuesday night, proved determinative in swinging the result in the Liberty’s favor. After failing to make a shot from the field and scoring only three points last week, she turned in an efficient 21-point and 12-rebound double-double.
What’s up with Stewie’s shooting?
Jones’ effort helped compensate for another subpar shooting night from Breanna Stewart, who also earned an All-Star honor—her sixth—on Tuesday. She was a frigid 5-for-20 from the field, using a 7-for-8 performance from the line to find her way to 17 points. She matched her point total with 17 rebounds, a reminder that, for as a prolific of a scorer as she is, Stewart can impact winning in a multitude of ways.
Nevertheless, an 0-for-5 performance from behind the arc—the eighth time this season she has failed to make a 3-pointer in a game—is a cause for concern. It’s not another Commissioner’s Cup or the best regular season record that motivates the Liberty; it’s a title. And to secure the first championship in franchise history, they need a peak version of Stewart. She wasn’t that in last year’s Finals, going 3-for-17 from downtown in four Finals games. As Robert Mummery recently analyzed for The Her Hoop Stats Newsletter, the shooting slump that appeared to afflict her throughout last year’s playoffs—as she shot less than 20 percent from deep across 10 playoff games—has continued into this season; Stewie’s 3-point percentage currently sits at a career-low 25.3 percent.
During ESPN’s broadcast of the Liberty’s game against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, LaChina Robinson, Chiney Ogwumike and Carolyn Peck mentioned that Stewart had indicated that she had made some adjustments and…
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