Sunday afternoon’s game between the New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury was special. This was the first time Breanna Stewart had seen her friend and Phoenix Mercury center, Brittney Griner, since her return to the United States. While BG was detained in Russia, Stewart tweeted every day calling for her return home.
“She’s an inspiration to really, everybody,” Stewart said. “And [I’m] just happy she’s home, safe, and back with us in the WNBA.”
This was Griner’s first appearance in Brooklyn since August 2021, and the Liberty paid special tribute to the Mercury icon. The team and ‘Bring Our Families Home’ held a letter-writing campaign for Americans that have been wrongly detained overseas.
It was an emotional and affirming day at the Barclays Center, but there was a game to be played. With Griner and Diana Taurasi sidelined due to injuries, the Liberty took full advantage and won, 89-71. The newest superteam demonstrated excellent ball movement, assisting on 25 of 30 made field goals. It was the eighth time this season New York has crossed the 20 assist plateau as a team.
“We’re getting to the point where making the extra passes is what we all expect,” Stewart said about the Liberty’s offensive flow. “And you see it, I think, almost every game [when] we have high assists. And [we] just continue to find an open person because we know that everybody can knock down shots or find a great position to score the basket.”
With a clear size advantage, the Liberty grabbed a season-high 12 offensive rebounds and scored 32 points in the paint through high-low connections after handoffs and off-ball screens.
New York coach Sandy Brondello spoke about the mindset on the glass.
“I think that’s an improvement,” Brondello said. “That’s an area we try to focus on this week in our video [meetings] and when we practice. But we need to have consistency.”
Bounce back for Stewart
‘Bounce back’ is not a phrase that is often used to describe the Liberty’s two-time champion due to her incredible consistency on the basketball court. However, it was a proper description after Stewart’s last game against the Dream, where Stewie missed 13 of her 14 attempted shots in a close loss. In Sunday’s victory, Stewart dropped 28 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including three three-pointers and 11 free throws made. She also grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds and a team-high seven assists. Stewie was able to use all of the attention she draws to get easy baskets for her teammates.
The Liberty never trailed against the Mercury, but the way the team finished the fourth quarter was not as clean as what the postgame stat sheet shows. Thanks to Phoenix’s effort to keep the game alive, its 14-3 fourth quarter run cut the Liberty lead to eight points. Sophie Cunningham in particular was critical as she scored 12 of her 27 points during that run. That forced Brondello to get her starters back into the game to stop the bleeding. Shortly after, that lineup made some defensive stops and Marine Johannes hit two clutch three-pointers on the other end. The Liberty’s lead grew to 15 points, a comfortable buffer for the team down the stretch.
“I think it’s hard. I don’t like being up at half-time,” Brondello joked about having big leads. “We just had to find some composure, just have a little bit of poise, play better defense. … Just execute the game plan a little bit better and, you know, start making some shots.”
With the win, the Liberty improved their record to 7-3. Next up, they will head to Atlanta for a rematch with the Dream on Friday.