Liberty’s comeback efforts not enough as they fall to Lynx

A short active roster on the second half of a back-to-back proved to be too big of a task for the Liberty on Friday night.

The Minnesota Lynx came into Barclays Center and upset the Libs, 88-83, on a night where the home team looked a step too slow.

After being down 17, the Libs came within three points in the final minutes of the fourth quarter after a pair of Sabrina Ionescu treys, but Lynx guard Diamond Miller connected on a timely three-pointer to kill momentum. Ionescu found Betnijah Laney for an open corner three-pointer, but she missed. It was a shot the team has gotten used to seeing Laney hit, but it didn’t fall on Friday.

The early deficit was too much to come back from, which led to the end of the Liberty’s four-game winning streak. Ionescu’s 31 points, seven boards and seven assists couldn’t lift her team to victory.

Sandy Brondello entered the game without starting guard Courtney Vandersloot, and reserves Stefanie Dolson and Han Xu. That left the team with just nine players getting action after getting an 11-point victory against the Atlanta Dream less than 24 hours prior.

Kayla McBride led the charge from the start for the Lynx, who entered the game as 14-point underdogs. She took on some of the scoring load with Lynx star Napheesa Collier missing the game with a right ankle injury.

McBride took advantage of a lax defense and was efficient. She shot 11-14 from the field, finishing with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Miller, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, continued her solid rookie campaign on Friday. Her presence on defense didn’t allow opposing guards to get comfortable all night. She ended with 22 points and five rebounds.

Miller, alongside her teammates, hounded the Liberty on the defensive end. The Liberty normally have no issues putting the ball in the basket, which is evident with the team’s second-best 46% shooting from the field this season. But points were hard to come by in the first half against the Lynx. They put up 39 points on 36% shooting after two periods. The team eventually finished shooting the same percentage after four quarters.

The Lynx were up by seven at the half and would’ve been up more if it wasn’t for Ionescu.

Ionescu’s 18 points in the first half kept the game from getting ugly. She hit four treys in that span and ended the game with seven.

Other than the often reliable Breanna Stewart, who contributed 23 points and six rebounds, the offense sputtered for most of the night.

The offense looked like it needed Vandersloot, who rested on the bench for the second game of the back-to-back.

Ionescu said on Thursday that fatigue wouldn’t be used as an excuse during the team’s stretch of four games in six days. But that looked to be the case on Friday.

The subpar play showed with the Lynx winning on the boards, 40-37, and in the points in the paint battle, 40-24.

Laney finished with 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Jonquel Jones mustered just six shots and finished with nine points while grabbing 11 boards.

Minnesota’s Dorka Juhasz recorded a double-double. She finished with 13 points and 10 assists.