Breanna Stewart puts Game 1 errors behind her with do-it-all effort as Liberty even WNBA Finals
Breanna Stewart asked for this, all of this.The mantle of the Liberty’s superstar among stars.The responsibility of winning an original WNBA franchise’s first title, bringing a pro basketball championship to New York City for the first time since Clyde, Dollar Bill, the Pearl and all them.The blame when she misses the shot, as she did, twice, in a stunning collapse in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
The adoration when she sticks it.And, more: the charter flights, the overflow crowds, the national broadcast window, the eyes of a sport upon her.Stewart was unmissable in the Liberty’s series-tying, 80-66 win in Sunday’s Game 2.She had 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, a Finals-record seven steals, and left one ferocious impression that she wasn’t going to let her team lose.“I couldn’t wait to come back and change the narrative,” Stewart said.Stewart had missed a go-ahead free throw at the end of regulation in Game 1, and was unable to convert a potential game-tying driving layup on the final possession of overtime.The chance to bring a trophy to Brooklyn, with a Liberty team that morphed into an instant contender the moment Stewart agreed to sign as a free agent before the 2023 season, seemed to be slipping away for a second straight Finals.“Just not letting history repeat itself, and knowing that, you know, Game 1 happened,” Stewart said of her mindset.
“But now, how can we control Game 2?”The Liberty did control Game 2 from the tip, building a lead as big as 17.But the ghosts of Game 1 were out, the spooky skeletons hanging around the yard with 18,046 living souls inside nervously saying “Ooooh!”When the Lynx trimmed the Liberty’s lead to four late in the third quarter, Stewart hit two free throws, blocked a shot at the other end and then came back down and canned a jumper to push it back to eight.When the Lynx pulled within two with under five minutes remaining — the juncture at which Game 1 went sideways — Stewart snared three...