NEW YORK — Courtney Williams blew by her defender and raced her way into the lane. But instead of a clear path to the basket, she was met by the long arms of Breanna Stewart. Stewart took the ball out of the air, muscled her way past Napheesa Collier down the floor, and found Sabrina Ionescu on the opposite wing for a side-step 3-pointer.
It was only the second possession of the game, but the tone had been set. Stewart was an inescapable defensive presence everywhere on the court in New York’s 80-66 WNBA Finals Game 2 win. She set a WNBA Finals record with seven steals and helped limit the Lynx to its lowest scoring total of the season (in games when Collier was available). With the Liberty facing a must-win situation, it was their defensive effort, led by Stewart, that evened the series heading to Minnesota.
“She was all over the floor, just wreaking havoc on everything, was in the gaps and making things hard,” New York guard Courtney Vandersloot said. “She had seven steals, which is insane, and just really making a huge impact on that side.”
After Game 1, Stewart lamented New York’s defensive effort, saying that the Lynx never felt uncomfortable en route to a 50/40/90 shooting performance. To combat that, the Liberty needed to apply more pressure. For Stewart, that meant higher pickup points in the half court. In Game 1, Leonie Fiebich had been pressuring Williams up high but wasn’t getting help from her frontcourt teammates, so the Lynx were able to screen her out of possessions and create a runway toward the basket. Stewart and Jonquel Jones realized they needed to commit alongside Fiebich to stifle Minnesota’s offense at the point of attack.
“The thought process was we were trying to be up a little bit more, not letting them get to the 3-point line to set up their offense,” Stewart said.
As a result, Stewart was out near half-court, forcing the opposing guards to pick up their dribble. She had her hands up at the 3-point line to deflect post-entry passes and also defended the other end, using her 7-foot-1 wingspan to front her matchup in the paint.
Stewart’s activity throughout the game changed the Lynx’s ability to get into their offense. Minnesota had seven more turnovers than their season average and seven fewer field-goal attempts. Of the shots the Lynx managed to get up, more of them came in the midrange and the paint outside of the restricted area than usual, as the Liberty forced them to non-ideal areas of the court.
“Her impact defensively was something that we felt,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said.
In addition to serving as an all-world disruptive help defender, Stewart had the toughest individual defensive assignment by having to cover Collier. The first step to limiting the Lynx superstar was corralling Williams so that Collier would already be under pressure when she got the ball, and then it was a matter of honing in on Collier’s specific moves.
“Obviously, knowing her tendencies,” Stewart said. “She wants to go left, she wants to go over the right shoulder. She’s going to pump fake a million times. So just staying down and making her continue to take tough shots that she doesn’t want to take.”
When Stewart was defending Collier one-on-one, Collier shot 2 of 5 but also committed three turnovers, resulting in four points on eight plays. Collier finished with 16 points and three assists, unable to impact the outcome as thoroughly as she did Thursday.
Stewart also had a sense of the moment Sunday. Although New York led for the entire game, the Lynx were able to pull within two twice in the fourth quarter. On two of those possessions, Stewart took the ball away, preventing Minnesota from even attempting a basket to tie the score.
With the Lynx trailing 66-64, Stewart once again disrupted Williams, coming over as the second defender on a switch and forcing the Minnesota guard to lose her handle, which Stewart immediately pounced on. On the ensuing possession, Stewart was matched up with Collier on the elbow and dove to take away the entry pass from Williams; Jones scored on the other end, and the margin never dipped below four again.
“It’s huge when you have your best player, your leader, playing as hard as she does night in and night out and impacting the game in different ways,” Vandersloot said. “It’s a big motivator for everybody, and she sets the standard for us.”
Game 2 wasn’t necessarily about redemption for Stewart, but rather being able to move forward and change the narrative. Stewart strives to be consistent every night, whether the shots fall or not, and her team-high 21 points were almost an afterthought compared to the destruction she caused on the other end.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
New York Liberty, WNBA
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