Liberty 77 – Mercury 71
First Teresa Weatherspoon was the story. Then Tari Phillips. Then Tamika Whitmore. And finally Becky Hammon.
See where this is going?
If you’re looking for a single word to sum up the Liberty’s 77-71 victory over the Phoenix Mercury last night at Madison Square Garden, you could do a lot worse than “balance.”
“This is a team where any one of a number of players can score 20 points on you,” Hammon said. “That’s pretty tough to guard.”
It’s darn near impossible, is what it is.
Especially if you’re the foundering Mercury, losers now of five straight – and of every road game this season, period.
Of course, when you’re going against a team that flashed the balance that the Liberty showed, how good a chance do you really have anyway?
A season-high crowd of 15,629 saw the Liberty (10-8) display their whole arsenal, from their trademark defensive intensity to stunningly easy offensive dominance. They never trailed in the game.
Try these numbers: the Liberty set a season-high for first-half scoring (40 points). They set a season-high for second-half points in the paint (40). And both Whitmore (career-high 28 points) and Phillips (season-high 23) were pretty much unstoppable.
Who says this is a team that has trouble scoring?
On a night where stars abounded, however, it was Whitmore’s whose shined brightest.
She enjoyed her best night as a pro, shooting a blistering 11-of-13 from the field to accompany her five-rebound, three-steal masterpiece.
The highlight was the opening 12 minutes of the second half, when the 6-foot-2 forward scored 12 of the Liberty’s 19 points, including eight in a row to push a five-point lead back up to 11. The Mercury never seriously challenged again.
“I think a lot of people underestimate me in this league,” Whitmore said. “But God gave me a talent for scoring.”
Said Liberty coach Richie Adubato: “Tamika is a very smart player, very intelligent. They played a zone, and she got loose inside. And then she used her quickness to get by people.”
Of course, on a night where the lead crested to 14 points, what made the club so dominant was the way everyone contributed.
Phillips, wearing three different sets of bandage wraps on her legs, played heroically underneath, pacing the team with 16 points in the first half. Hammon sparked the team with 14 points off the bench, including a 23-foot three-pointer that brought down the house.
Crystal Robinson, bothered by an ailing pinkie, harnessed Phoenix star Jennifer Gillom (25 points) down the stretch, holding her to just one field goal in the final 4:52. And Weatherspoon not only registered nine assists, but displayed her usual chest-pounding, fist-pumping bravado.
“Enjoy the ride, baby!” she yelled to a row of fans right before inbounding the ball early in the first half.
They did. Every minute of it.