Lynx vs. Liberty: Kayla McBride's 14-Point Fourth Outlasts Sabrina Ionescu's Third-Quarter Explosion

Sabrina Ionescu spent the third quarter at Target Center playing a different sport from everyone else. She scored 19 in the period, dragged New York out of a 15-point hole and had the Liberty in front heading to the fourth. Then Kayla McBride decided that was quite enough of that.

McBride poured in 14 of her 25 in the final quarter, Olivia Miles came back from a two-game absence with 23, and the Minnesota Lynx held off the New York Liberty 90-85 on Saturday in front of 12,405. New York had handled this same group by 13 just eight days earlier, so Minnesota got its receipt, even if it took a stack of late free throws to get it printed.

The Lead That Wouldn't Sit Still

Minnesota looked half asleep early. New York jumped out 11-5 behind two Breanna Stewart threes before the Lynx woke up with a 12-2 closing burst, capped by a Natasha Howard bucket at the horn for a 17-13 lead. The second quarter became the Miles show. She scored 11 in the period, the margin swelled to 39-24, and when New York answered with eight straight, the rookie buried a three with one second left to send Minnesota to the locker room up 42-32.

Then things got weird. The first nine New York points after halftime all came from Ionescu, and Minnesota barely flinched, running off eight in a row to go up 54-39. McBride's jumper made it 56-41 with a little over five minutes left in the third. That was the high-water mark. New York ripped off 13 straight, with Jonquel Jones at the line, a Stewart three-point play, an Ionescu bucket and back-to-back Marine Johannes threes closing the gap to 56-54. After a Courtney Williams basket, Ionescu scored the next eight by herself: a three, two free throws and a three-point play that put New York up 62-58. McBride's three with 20 seconds to go trimmed it to 62-61, but the Liberty had taken the quarter 30-19 without a single giveaway.

Nine Straight and a Whole Lot of McBride

The game turned about three minutes into the fourth. Raquel Carrera's basket gave New York a 72-69 lead with 6:57 left, and the Liberty never led again. Williams tied it with a three, Howard hit two free throws, and McBride followed with a free throw and another three. That 9-0 run took all of 66 seconds and left Minnesota ahead 78-72.

New York refused to leave, which is what made McBride's shot-making so cruel. Han Xu's three cut it to 78-77, and McBride answered from 24 feet. A Jones free throw made it 81-80, and McBride answered from deep again. Johannes connected from 26 feet to get within 84-83, and Howard scored inside to rebuild the cushion. Every time the Liberty got a hand on the rope, Minnesota cut it.

Miles took it from there. Her steal with 1:21 left started a possession the Lynx refused to give back, as Williams and McBride both grabbed offensive rebounds, and two free throws made it 88-83. She then missed a pair with 42 seconds left, Jones scored inside to make it 88-85, and a late-clock jumper from Williams came up empty. Miles tracked down that rebound herself and finished the job at the line with eight seconds to play.

The Stars, Graded on a Steep Curve

McBride's line was the cleanest on the floor: 25 points, 5 of 11 from deep, 4 of 4 at the line, four steals and zero turnovers in 33 minutes. The steals won't make the highlight package, and they should. Miles, back from a calf injury, was streaky at 6 of 16 but lived for the big moments, finishing with five rebounds and four assists and going 7 of 10 at the stripe. Howard added 16 points and nine boards, while Williams pulled down 12 rebounds to go with 12 points, which helped offset a 5-of-17 shooting day. Those two supplied 10 of Minnesota's 15 offensive rebounds.

Ionescu finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists, her highest-scoring regular-season game of the year. Outside that third quarter, though, she had six points, and she went 3 of 12 from three. Jones posted 15 points and 12 rebounds for her third straight double-double. Stewart scored 17 and, according to the team, moved past Sylvia Fowles for 12th on the WNBA's all-time scoring list. Johannes supplied 14 off the bench with four threes.

Ten Points at the Line

• 18 of 23: Minnesota at the line, against 8 of 9 for New York. That's a 10-point cushion in a five-point game.
• 14 of 28: The Lynx from three. New York made one fewer on 10 more attempts, going 13 of 38.
• 27-18: New York's edge in points off turnovers, a season high for the Liberty according to the team. It still wasn't enough.
• 15-11: Minnesota's advantage on the offensive glass, including the second chances that set up Miles' free throws.
• 24-11: New York's bench scoring edge, another win on paper that never reached the scoreboard.

First Place and a Cold Snap

Minnesota moves to 17-6 and 7-4 at home, with back-to-back wins after dropping two straight. The Lynx began the day in a first-place tie with Golden State and Las Vegas, and they get Phoenix at home on Monday. The season series with New York now sits at a game apiece.

New York falls to 13-10 and 6-5 on the road. That's two straight losses and four in its last five regular-season games, a sharp comedown for the team that won the Commissioner's Cup Championship on June 30. There's no time to sulk, either, with a date against Toronto in Montreal on Sunday.

The Trailer vs. the Ending

On most days, a 19-point quarter is a story you get to tell for a week. Ionescu's deserves that treatment, because for about 10 minutes she made a very good defense look like a pickup run at the rec center. But this is the gap between 17-6 and 13-10. Minnesota gave back a 15-point lead, lost the points-off-turnovers battle, got outscored off the bench and still found a veteran who wouldn't stop shooting and a rookie who wouldn't stop chasing rebounds. Ionescu cut the trailer. McBride and Miles wrote the ending, and the standings only ever review the ending.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press, WNBA.com and the New York Liberty.