Liberty fall to Minnesota Lynx in rematch of WNBA Finals

The last time the Liberty and the Lynx had been seen at Barclays Center, there was confetti falling all over the home team after Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

“One of the most amazing nights of my life, I think, other than having my children,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “[The series] was up and down. Just two great teams going at each other.”

These two teams were back together Sunday at Barclays for the first time since the Liberty claimed first prize that October night. Minnesota beat them at Target Center on July 30 in the long-awaited first rematch behind 30 points from Napheesa Collier and was sitting atop the league standings ahead of the second-place Liberty.

Both were down one shining star for this Brooklyn reunion. Two-time MVP Breanna Stewart remained out for the Liberty with a bone bruise in her right knee from July 26. And Collier, a prime MVP contender, remained out for the Lynx with a sprained right ankle from Aug. 2.

The Lynx began to take charge late in the third quarter and won their third straight minus Collier and their fifth straight overall. So they left the arena feeling better than last time after an 83-71 win.

And the Liberty left not feeling so good about what they put out there for the sellout crowd of 17,343 besides the halftime induction of former forward/center Tari Phillips into their Ring of Honor. They finished with 20 turnovers, leading to 22 points.

“Give Minnesota credit,” Brondello said. “We didn’t make them feel uncomfortable and they made us feel really uncomfortable. We lacked a little bit of discipline.”

Kayla McBride scored 18 points, DiJonai Carrington had 15 off the bench and Courtney Williams contributed 14 points and seven assists for Minnesota. Natasha Cloud scored 14 for the Liberty.

The Liberty fell to 20-11, dropping 6 1/2 back in the race for the top seed. The Lynx are up to 27-5. They’re hoping first prize will belong to them this time.

“Playoff runs are hard,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Are we capable? Sure. But we’re still kind of plowing through the regular season. I like where we’re at, for sure. Can we play well when it counts? That’s obviously left to be determined.”

This was the first of three meetings between the teams in 10 days. They play Saturday at Minnesota, then back at Barclays on Aug. 19.

Stewart said that “the Finals rematch shouldn’t have to wait until August . . . The league didn’t know that [Collier] and I were both going to be out. But you want to see everybody full throttle; that’s the first game of the season or the second or the third. Not August.”

Collier is out for at least a few weeks. Stewart wants to be back before the end of the month.

“I feel great,” Stewart said. “It’s really just kind of giving my leg, the bone bruise, a little bit of time while we have it . . . Like the exact [return] date, we don’t have it. It just depends on how well I progress.

“But definitely before my birthday [Aug. 27]. That’s a non-negotiable. I have to be back before my birthday.”

The Liberty led 54-50 after a Cloud three with 3:59 left in the third. Then came a 14-0 run by Minnesota.

When Carrington canned a three, the Lynx were up 56-54. She followed with another. Reserve Natisha Hiedeman, who scored 13, followed with a layup and a three.

Sabrina Ionescu, who went 4-for-15 and scored only 10, said that Minnesota’s “bench killed us.”

And so 54-50 Liberty had turned into 64-54 Lynx.

Minnesota made it a quarter-closing 16-3 run, good for a 66-57 advantage.

It became a 25-6 run when the Lynx opened the fourth with a 9-3 burst — 75-60.

“I think right now people are really trying to test our toughness,” Cloud said. “That’s what I’m excited to see is the response from this team about our toughness. … We need to show up in the toughness aspect.”

The first half had remained mostly tight. The Liberty led just 38-36 at the break.

“Thankfully,” Ionescu said, “a championship is not won or lost at this point in the season.”