INDIANAPOLIS — The Liberty’s 90-88 win against the Fever on Saturday had everything you want in a basketball game.
It featured epic swings and came down to the wire.
Fans cheered on the Fever and booed the Liberty and referees.
With Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sitting courtside, it felt like playoff basketball arrived at Gainbridge Fieldhouse a day before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
There was plenty of drama, too.
After the Liberty overcame a 12-point fourth-quarter hole, Sabrina Ionescu made back-to-back free throws to give New York a two-point lead with 2.9 seconds left.
Everyone knew what the Fever were going to do.
It was going to be Caitlin Clark’s shot.
But Natasha Cloud wasn’t even going to let Clark have the chance.
Cloud reached for the ball and swatted it out of Clark’s hands as time expired to secure the Liberty’s third win of the season.
“It’s huge for us, especially as we get a game like this early in the year on the road and a gritty win,” said Ionescu, who finished with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. “It’s impressive. And for us, it wasn’t pretty. And I think being able to see how we’re able to grind games out, continue to stay together and win when it’s ugly.”
After the game, Fever coach Stephanie White was adamant Cloud fouled Clark before time expired and took issue with the way the Fever have been officiated this season.
“It’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us the last few games,” White said. “A minus-31 free-throw discrepancy. … The disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable and it’s disappointing that it doesn’t go both ways.”
Cloud said the swipe was clean.
“I just hit it and then I ran,” Cloud said. “I did my little soccer run and I yelled.”
After opening the season with back-to-back comfortable wins, Saturday was the Liberty’s first major stress test.
The Liberty squandered a 15-point lead and found themselves in a 12-point hole early in the fourth to the Fever.
Coach Sandy Brondello called a timeout after a Natasha Howard putback gave the Fever their largest lead of the game.
“Get out of your heads. We’ve got to stay together. Everyone’s worried about s–t out there … worry about playing team basketball,” Brondello told the team. “Whatever happened before, let’s get it out of our brains. The only way we do it is if we execute at a high level, the way that we’re capable of.”
Brondello’s message was heard loud and clear.
Jonquel Jones scored 14 of her team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Saturday’s challenge might have been exactly what the Liberty needed.
Up to that point, everything had seemed to be too easy for New York.
There were some areas of concern that Brondello had with the team, though how mad can a coach be when the team is winning?
But the Fever put a spotlight on some of the Liberty’s issues, such as rebounding, complacency and interior defense.
Aliyah Boston in the pick-and-roll with Clark was a problem all day for the Libs. Boston finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
The Fever outscored the Liberty in the paint 52-42.
The Liberty’s biggest issues came in the third quarter, when they got too comfortable.
Poor shot selection and bad execution on defense didn’t help the Liberty’s situation either.
The Fever outscored the Liberty 30-13 in the third quarter and regained the lead.
“Once we settled down … we came out and executed and the rest of the game it was just much better,” Brondello said. “We have to be intentional with how we play.”
“[The Fever are] a really good team … but yeah, we’re a great team, too, I don’t think we showed our best tonight, but it’s early in the year and proud of how we hung in there and found a way to win.”
