NEW YORK — Saturday was the final regular-season meeting between the Indiana Fever and the New York Liberty, but it came with all the pomp and circumstance of a playoff game: a raucous crowd of 17,581 that filled Barclays Center to the rafters, a tight game with a lead that would never eclipse a two-point basket and expect some kind of 10. title of hope.
For the Liberty, who are still working to clinch a postseason berth, the 109-102 victory was a necessary step as they try to overcome an inconsistent season marred by injuries. Fever, meanwhile, has already secured a place, thanks fire in portland‘s loss on Friday night, but the battle for the seedings continues.
“We know this team has been through a lot,” Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said. “But we’ve got a lot of fight left. There were playoff implications for this game. … But we just want to keep feeling good and firing on all cylinders defensively and let that affect our offense.”
Breanna Stewart powers the Liberty to a much-needed win over the Fever
Indiana’s arrival in New York came with its typical sideshow. Two gatherings were held outside the Barclays Center before the game, one in support of the inclusion of transgender women in sports and the other in opposition. The small groups remained calm amid a stronger than usual police presence at a Liberty game.
It was hard to tell inside that it was a Liberty home game. Red Fever t-shirts and jerseys were strewn across the courtside seats, which bled even more into the stands. Announcements of the Fever’s starting line-up were met with an even mix of boos and cheers. The same could be said when Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham, whose comments about transgender athletes sparked rallies, entered the game.
In their last meeting, the Fever knocked the Liberty out of the gym, shooting 54 percent from the field and better than 60 percent from 3. But Saturday night was a different story. Although Liberty controlled the game throughout, the fever was a pesky mosquito that refused to go away.
A 7-point Liberty lead was cut to 1 with four minutes to play as Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Cunningham led the fourth quarter comeback. Just when it looked like Mitchell was about to draw his sword and slay another dragon, New York got a much needed answer from its missing piece – Leonie Fiebich.
With her team clinging to a 1-point lead, Fiebich drew an and-1, giving the Liberty a 3-point lead with less than a minute to play. If there was any lingering question of home ground advantage, it became crystal clear in the last 30 seconds who had the biggest support as Barclays erupted in celebration of the Liberty’s game-winning run down the stretch.
“We kept our composure,” Stewart said. “Chris (DeMarco, head coach) kind of challenged us — me, Sabrina (Joneska), (Jonquel Jones) as the leaders of this team — to really get us together and get tight whenever we can. … I thought we were just engaged with each other tonight.”
Fiebich finished with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Stewart led the Liberty with 22 points and Jones added 19.
Mitchell extended her 20-plus point streak to 22 games, finishing with a game-high 25 points. Clark added 21 points and Aliyah Boston 22 for the Fever. That was it second straight loss for Indiana, which fell to the Dallas Wings on Thursday.
Makayla Timpson is in foul trouble
Timpson has been key to the Fever’s success since the All-Star break.
She made her seventh straight start of the season – eighth of the year – against Liberty.
“She’s like our hidden gem,” Mitchell said. “Everything she does, it’s athletic. She’s got strength. She’s got a fierceness in her, and because she’s so young, I don’t think she’s really mastered what she can do yet.”
Timpson has shined defensively for the Fever, a team that ranks in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating. But she also proved that she is capable of an explosive attack: she scored a record 20 points against the Atlanta Dream last week. Against Liberty, she had only 10 points, and because of a foul, she played only 19 minutes.
Timpson spent much of the night tasked with slowing down Stewart, but he fouled early and spent nearly half of the first quarter on the bench. She picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and immediately took her seat next to assistant coach Brianna January, where she spent the rest of the first half.
She played just one minute in the fourth quarter after picking up two more fouls.
Healthy freedom
Saturday was the first time the Liberty have had a healthy lineup since the first week of July, when Fiebich was sidelined with soreness in his left foot. She missed 16 games before being restored to the starting lineup on Saturday night.
Fiebich said after practice Friday that she would have liked to return sooner, but Liberty’s medical staff advised against it. DeMarco expected limited minutes Saturday for Fiebich and Jones, who suffered left ankle injuries in the first quarter of the Liberty’s loss to the Chicago Sky on Tuesday. In the end, neither was limited.
“We’re trying to win,” DeMarco said. “Leo looked good out there and JJ dominated. As long as they feel good, we’ll let them work.”
Fiebich excelled defensively, which says a lot considering her score. She was active in passing lanes, which was not reflected in her lone steal of the night. As a typically composed wing, she had a moment in the third quarter that seemed to reflect her joy at being back on the field. With less than two minutes to play in the third, she pulled up a clutch and-one before turning to the crowd and letting out a heartfelt scream.
“I don’t know what happened,” Fiebich said. “Honestly, that doesn’t happen often. I had a natural reaction. I’m really happy that we did well, and I feel like we needed some energy, I just let it out.”
Playoff race
Saturday’s loss dropped the Fever to fifth in the league behind the Dream. Liberty remains in the position of the sixth seed.
If the season ended Saturday night, the Fever would face the Dream in the first round and would not have home court advantage. The Liberty will face the Las Vegas Aces on the road. New York has six games left in the regular season, two of which will be played before the FIBA World Cup break, which takes place between August 31 and September 16.
The Fever have six games remaining, including a two-game series against the top-ranked Minnesota Lynx to end the regular season.
