There were plenty of moments Sunday that showed the Liberty are still trying to shake off whatever was ailing them in Tuesday’s failure to repeat as Commissioner’s Cup champions.
But after a sluggish start, a stagnant performance from Jonquel Jones and an awful shooting afternoon from Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart carried the Liberty to an 81-75 win over the Atlanta Dream at Barclays Center.
Stewart scored 22 points and became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 5,000 points, doing so in 242 games; Diana Taurasi had the previous mark at 243 games.
Breanna Stewart (30) became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 5,000 points in Sunday’s Liberty win over the Dream.
“It’s a cool honor, for sure. Obviously, when you get to pass someone like D [Taurasi], who is really paving the way for scoring and all of that. It’s an incredible honor and also something that I’ll definitely text her about,” Stewart said with a laugh. “But, all in all, I wouldn’t be here and be able to do all these things without my teammates and really appreciating them for setting me up to get to this point.
“But, we’re trying to do more than just get accolades.”
Jones had just five points — only two better than her three free throws on Tuesday against the Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup final.
Sabrina Ionescu (20) shot just 3-for-17 on Sunday.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (44) looks to pass against the Dream.
Ionescu had 10, shooting 3-for-17 from the field, including 2-for-11 from deep.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said many players were under the weather.
Ionescu, who had a strained voice, said she didn’t “say one word” on the court.
Stewart propelled the Liberty (league-best 16-3) in the second half after they shot a brutal 27.8 percent in the first quarter and 30 percent in the second quarter.
They were down 16 at one point in the first half and still down 14 with 1:40 left in the half before Stewart and Vandersloot sparked a run to get the Liberty within 41-36 at the half.
Stewart, the two-time MVP, carried the load in the third quarter, making three 3-pointers as the Dream left her open at the top of the key too often.
She followed her shots for second-chance points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help limit the Dream in the paint.
Atlanta (7-10) shot 13-for-18 in the paint in the first half but went only 5-for-14 inside in the second half.
Jonquel Jones managed just five points for the Liberty on Sunday against the Dream.
Breanna Stewart scored 22 points for the Liberty on Sunday.
“In the start, we weren’t as disruptive as we wanted to be and we were able to turn that around. … Just knowing where they’re trying to put the ball,” Stewart said on the improved work inside. “They’re trying to drive downhill. They’re trying to punch it in the paint … just being conscious of that.”
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had the game-shifting deep shot in the third quarter off a pass from Ionescu, who found her in the corner to take a 44-43 lead — the Liberty’s first since four minutes into the game.
Leonie Fiebich also was a late spark off the bench, scoring nine of her 12 points in the final quarter.
Breanna Stewart blocks a shot for the Liberty on Sunday against the Dream.
But the Liberty looked lost at the start.
At one point, Vandersloot lofted the ball to Stewart under the basket in transition, but came up with nothing.
Ionescu was slow to make decisions, opting to not shoot at times when given space and instead made errant passes.
Former Liberty standout Tina Charles — along with Allisha Gray — was beating Charles’ former team in transition and in the paint, with Charles constantly getting the best of Jones.
Charles, who played with the Liberty from 2014-19, had 16 points; Gray tallied 24.
“We started slow. A little bit rusty, I suppose,” Brondello said. “So, we had to dig deep. We had to get back playing as hard as we can and play the right way. We didn’t make many shots in that first half. We got some open ones, but we just had to keep moving the ball and they started to drop when we needed them.”
