Sabrina Ionescu and the Liberty will be looking for a bit of revenge and a perfect 3-0 road trip Friday night in Minnesota. AP Photo by Michael Conroy
The New York Liberty will be in Minnesota Friday night looking to atone for the one that got away.
Off to the best start in franchise history and coming off a 9-2 July, the Liberty (20-6) began August with Tuesday night’s 76-69 victory in Los Angeles.
The Eastern Conference leaders, who swept their two-game set against the Sparks, have revenge on their minds as they head to Minnesota on Friday looking to complete a 3-0 road trip at Target Center.
The Lynx (13-14) are responsible for New York’s only loss in the last seven contests, an 88-83 setback at Downtown’s Barclays Center last Friday night.
The Liberty, who were trying to finish off a 4-0 homestand and complete their first five-game winning streak of the year, fell behind early and were never able to overtake the Lynx, who were without All-Star forward Napheesa Collier due to an ankle injury.
Though they got 31 points from Sabrina Ionescu and 23 out of reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month and fellow All-Star Breanna Stewart, the Liberty found themselves trailing for good after a first quarter-ending 17-2 run by Minnesota.
“We got a little complacent. … They got more aggressive, started making shots and it just dried up for us,” said New York head coach Sandy Brondello.
“A little fatigue set in,” she admitted after her unit played its fifth game in seven days.
The Liberty quickly rebounded with back-to-back wins in L.A., remaining one game ahead of second-place Connecticut (19-7) in the East.
But Stewart, the front-runner to grab WNBA Most Valuable Player honors after earning her fourth Player of the Week and second Player of the Month awards this week, lamented what could have been that night on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.
“We know the run we gave up to Minnesota in the first quarter,” she noted. “They moved the…
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