LIBERTY CRUSHER
Phoenix takes thriller on last-second FT
The Liberty didn’t come to Phoenix to play the Mercury’s game. It wasn’t just “we’re in! Yay,” as Sami Whitcomb put it before the game. The Libs came in to see how far they could get. And they almost pulled off a stunner.
It just ended with an 83-82 loss to the Mercury.
What’s held the Liberty back most this season was the ability to play all four quarters of a game. That wasn’t the case on Thursday.
With less than a minute to go, the Mercury pulled ahead behind a clutch three-point shot by Sophie Cunningham and a layup by Skylar Diggins-Smith. Betnijah Laney tied the game, 82-82, with a trey as the clock stopped at 2.7 seconds left. Then Whitcomb fouled Brianna Turner, who pulled the Mercury ahead by draining one of her two shots from the charity stripe. Sabrina Ionescu tried to take the last shot with 0.4 seconds left, but with Brittney Griner in her face, her shot landed short.
At least the Liberty was able to close its season in style.
The Liberty struggled to land open shots and get stops in the first few minutes of the single-elimination playoff game.
The Libs silenced the crowd by the second quarter as their defense woke up and whatever lasting playoff jitters they had flitted away. Laney showed up the Mercury, driving through wide open lanes for uncontested layups. Ionescu, Natasha Howard and Bec Allen put in work helping space the floor. And DiDi Richards provided much-needed bursts of rejuvenation with aggressive defensive play and a clutch three-point shot to open the second quarter.
But it was a combination of being the better shooters and the Mercury going cold despite having open looks that propelled the Libs to a 41-37 lead at halftime.
The Liberty came into this game the underdogs in every way.
It was the first playoff appearance with this group, which has two rookies, four second-years players and five baby vets. They backed their way into the playoffs behind other teams’ losses, with the worst winning percentage of any team to ever get a playoff spot, going up against a team with significantly more height and that carries three Olympic gold medalists, though Diana Taurasi, who sat out with a sprained ankle.
This was a single-elimination playoff game and the Libs needed to carry their success over the Washington Mystics into Phoenix in order to survive and advance.
They nearly pulled it off, but now the Mercury moves on to play another single-elimination game Sunday in Seattle.