Basketball
The 8th seed New York Liberty dealt with the WNBA’s season toppers in the preliminary of the 2026 playoffs. The Liberty turned the script in their 16-point win (91-75), shutting down the momentum the Lynx developed by beating the Indiana Fever in their last regular-season video game. While Sabrina Ionescu didn’t have a high-scoring video game, the Liberty’s comfy win revealed that, unlike Minnesota, New York was all set for the difficulty.
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Discussing the win versus the Lynx, Ionescu went over the basic method they are requiring to preserve their dominant offense. Breanna Stewart is having her finest year in the last 3 years, and Ionescu exposed what her task is to assist the FIBA World Cup MVP shine.
“It’s checking out the video game … when Stewie’s as effective as she is, my entire task is to attempt and get her to keep going, type of go to the pick-and-roll till they can stop it, and they weren’t able to last video game,” Ionescu informed press reporters on Tuesday, per Liberty’s beat author Myles Ehrlich
“So simply discovering various methods to get our finest shot as an offense, and undoubtedly, for me as a point player, my entire task is to put us in the very best position to win.”
In Game 1, Ionsecu scored 13 points and shot 4-of-14 from the field. She had 6 helps, selecting to feed her colleagues. She was +12 in spite of her bad shooting in 28 minutes. Leonie Fiebich was among the 3 gamers who scored in double digits. She scored 16 points and transformed 6-of-7 of her basket.
Breanna Stewart was secured by 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier for the majority of the video game. She was hardly troubled in her rhythm, shooting 11-of-18 from the field in her 34-point efficiency. As Ionescu stated after the video game, Stewart is a “strolling inequality,” and she made the most of that. Stewart required Minnesota to devote fouls. She made 10-of-12 totally free tosses.
“We understood the shots that we were going to get,” Stewart stated after the win. “We had a couple of days to truly practice that and be deliberate, and whenever we had the ability to draw 2– kick it to the open individual, and shoot it with self-confidence.”
It wasn’t simply offense. Stewart controlled both ends of the flooring. She had 12 rebounds, 6 helps, 2 takes, and 2 blocks in 38 minutes.
New york city began strong. They outscored the Lynx by 7 points in the opening quarter. The Lynx reacted, as the finest group in the WNBA would. After a 26-15 scoring run, Minnesota constructed a 4-point lead entering into halftime. In the following 2 quarters, the Lynx were held to simply 16 and 15 points.
The Liberty and the Lynx have actually established a type of competition, specifically after New York beat Minnesota in the 2024 WNBA Finals. The Liberty have actually currently taken a psychological edge after winning Game 1 in Minnesota.
Stewart and the Liberty aren’t commemorating simply. Last season’s first-round series dissatisfaction is still fresh in their memory. The Liberty won Game 1 in Phoenix versus the Mercury. They lost Game 2 at Barclays Center and ultimately lost the series 2-1, leaving in the very first round.
The Liberty have actually gotten the much better of the Lynx in the routine season. In their 3 clashes, New York won 2 versus the Lynx. With the Game 1 win, the Liberty now have a 3-1 record versus Minnesota in 2026.
It is not likely that they would play a comparable video game in a row, as they have actually currently revealed versus the Fever in the last 2 regular-season video games. While the Fever controlled the Lynx 96-77 in the very first video game, they reacted by winning the 2nd 86-66.
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