Liberty fall to Lynx in WNBA Finals rematch as losing streak hit three

MINNEAPOLIS — There are plenty of lessons to be learned over the course of a season.

And the shorthanded Liberty are in the midst of one of the hardest sessions yet.

New York (17-9) dropped its third straight game Wednesday as the Lynx (22-5) beat the defending champions 100-93 in a rematch of the 2024 WNBA Finals.

The Liberty are down three players as Breanna Stewart (right knee), Nyara Sabally (right knee) and Kennedy Burke (right calf) watched Wednesday’s contest between the WNBA’s two best teams from the sideline in street clothes.

New York feared it would also be without Natasha Cloud, who had fallen ill Tuesday and was still feeling unwell Wednesday morning. Cloud went through her warmup and opted to play. She started alongside Sabrina Ionescu, Marine Johannès, Leonie Fiebich and Jonquel Jones.

The smaller lineup allowed the Liberty to play with more pace and space. Johannès heated up early, scoring eight of her 14 points in the first quarter.

New York cut Minnesota’s 15-point lead to four over a two-minute stretch late in the fourth.

But that would be the closest the Liberty would get.

Napheesa Collier, a leading MVP candidate, had 30 points, nine rebounds and three blocks against the Liberty, who rolled out an eight-player rotation.

Meanwhile, New York was led by Ionescu’s 31 points, five rebounds and four assists. Isabelle Harrison contributed a season-high 15 points off the bench.

Coach Sandy Brondello did her best to brush off the Liberty’s nearly 40-minute meeting after a pathetic first-half showing in Dallas.

“We have a lot of meetings,” Brondello said before the game. “We had another meeting yesterday. … We had just a little longer one because our performance was unacceptable for a team that wants to win a championship regardless of who’s in and who’s out.”

The main point Brondello was trying to make was “let’s be better.”

The Liberty did that Wednesday.

Then again, the bar was low from how the team fared against the Wings, who have one of the worst records in the league.

But the Liberty did compete. They stuck around longer than one may have thought given how short-staffed they were.

The Liberty even went on an inspired late rally that ultimately fell short.

But Wednesday was a reminder that the margin of error is thin, especially when a team is down as many players as the Liberty are.

Each team faces adversity over the course of a season. This is the Liberty’s most grueling bout of it yet.

New York’s road trip continues with the Liberty heading to Connecticut, where they’re scheduled to play Friday and Sunday.