In their third game back from the All-Star break, the New York Liberty looked to cap off their eight-game home stand with a victory. Instead, they would lose in an instant classic to the Los Angeles Sparks 101-99.
This game began with the Sparks getting on the board first with Dearica Hamby making a three-pointer to just barely beat the shot clock. Jonquel Jones would respond not too long after by converting with a three-pointer of her own. Los Angeles would continue to cash in from beyond the arc with Rickea Jackson making a deep three. Then, a few plays later, Kelsey Plum would make a wide-open three in the right corner. During this play, it was apparent Breanna Stewart was limping, and she would exit with a leg injury. Later, it was announced that Stewart would miss the rest of this contest with a lower leg injury.
The rest of the first quarter was all Los Angeles with Rickea Jackson leading the charge, pouring in an array of jumpers. Jackson ended the quarter by driving past Leonie Fiebich for a layup, giving her 17 points in the first and the Sparks a 35-20 lead to end the quarter.
Sabrina Ionescu would open the second quarter by making a three-pointer multiple feet behind the line off a pass from Leonie Fiebich. In a possession, it appeared the Sparks had nowhere to go. Rae Burrell drove for a and one finish over Jonquel Jones. Liberty tried to chip away at Los Angeles’ lead, but instead, both teams would be trading blows. Los Angeles would close off the second quarter with Kelsey Plum making a nice cross-court pass out of a double team to Dearica Hamby for a layup, giving the Sparks a 58-45 lead going into halftime.
Despite losing Breanna Stewart for the rest of the game, New York would fight back. Sabrina Ionescu got a steal, then passed it to Natasha Cloud, who then delivered it to Marine Johannes, who made a three-pointer in the right corner. Ionescu would grab a rebound and push the pace, passing it to Cloud, who converted a layup. Johannes would make a no-look pass to Natasha Cloud for a wide-open three in the left corner. Then, on the next play after great isolation defense on Kelsey Plum, Cloud forced a jump ball on Plum, which invigorated the crowd, capping off an 11-3 run for the Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu received a technical foul after arguing with the referee after they called an illegal screen on Jonquel Jones that opened Ionescu up for a three-pointer. Kelsey Plum made the technical free throw, and Azurá Stevens converted a putback layup to half the Liberty’s momentum.
New York would steal the momentum back with Natasha Cloud threading the needle on a pass to Isabelle Harrison, who got fouled on her layup attempt and made both free throws. A few seconds later, Cloud would get a steal while making a defensive rotation to the right corner. She would drive to the basket and was fouled on her shot attempt. She made both shots from the charity stripe, cutting the Sparks’ lead to 74-69 heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was both teams going back and forth, neither giving the other any opportunity to fully control the momentum. This is perfectly summed up in a four-minute stretch where the Liberty and Sparks would score eight possessions in a row, with the last shot of this stretch being a floater by Leonie Fiebich. A few possessions later, Azurá Stevens would be left open in transition for a layup, making Liberty coach Sandy Brondello call a timeout in frustration over their poor communication in their transition defense.
The final twenty-three seconds of this game were complete chaos, with Natasha Cloud missing a point-blank layup. Then, in transition, Sabrina Ionescu made a pull-up midrange jumper despite the great contest from Azurá Stevens. Kelsey Plum appeared to have the angle on Stephanie Talbot, but she would use the Liberty’s foul to give forcing Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts to call their last timeout. After initially trying to get Plum the ball, Dearica Hamby passed it to Rickea Jackson, who had great post positioning on Talbot. Jackson would take on a dribble before converting on a circus shot for the game winner, giving the Sparks their fifth win in a row.
New York will now look to bounce back from this devastating loss on Monday, taking on rookie phenom Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings to kick off their four-game road trip.
