2008 WNBA Playoffs Recap – September 25 – No. 3 New York Liberty 60, No. 1 Detroit Shock 56

Posted by Dan on September 29, 2008

2008 WNBA Playoffs Recap – September 25 – No. 3 New York Liberty 60, No. 1 Detroit Shock 56

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York Liberty 60, No. 1 Detroit Shock 56

NEW YORK – As the youngest team in the league, the thought of being on the doorstep of the WNBA Finals may have been overwhelming to the New York Liberty. Fortunately for the third-seeded team in the Eastern Conference they were able to recover from a poor finish to the first quarter and beat the top-seeded Detroit Shock, 60-56, in first game of the conference finals.

The Liberty started the game by only scoring eight points and played even for the next two quarters before making their move in the fourth. New York outscored Detroit 24-14 in the fourth to prevail by four.

The series now shifts to Detroit for game two and potentially game three. Game two will be played Sunday afternoon, but the game will not be played on the Shock’s home floor. Because of scheduling conflicts with The Palace of Auburn Hills, the game two and game three, if necessary, will be played at the Convocation Center on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., which is about an hour away.

For the opening minutes of the game it looked that Detroit was the younger of the two teams as they managed to score only two points for the first four minutes of the game. A lay up by Shameka Christon at the 3:06 mark of the first quarter gave the Liberty an 8-7 lead, but that would be the last points the host would score the rest of the period.

Detroit went on a 10-run from the three-minute mark of the first quarter through the first 2:26 of the second to capture a 17-8 advantage. A lay up by Janel McCarville would stop the Shock’s run and sparked one by the Liberty. She personally outscored Detroit 9-2 over the next two minutes to pull New York within three, 19-16.

The Shock would recover and take a six-point lead into the locker room, 29-23. Just like it did to start the game, New York played excellent defense to start the second half. Again it was McCarville capping a run that gave the Liberty a 34-33 lead with 5:25 to go in the third.

Katie Smith made a pair of baskets that helped Detroit take a 42-36 lead at the end of three quarters. Once again the Liberty’s defense came through as they held the Shock to just one point through the first 5:24 of the fourth quarter. Essence Carson and Cathrine Kraayeveld combined to score eight points in two minutes to push the Liberty’s lead to five, 55-50, with 1:55 to play.

Deanna Nolan, who scored the Shock’s last 11 points, hit a trio of free throws to close the margin to 57-56 with just 18 seconds left. After Erin Thorn hit two free throws, Nolan missed a three pointer that would have tied the game and another Thorn three sealed the victory.

McCarville led the way for New York, producing a team-high 17 points. The only other Liberty player to reach double figure was Christon and she produced a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Sixty-three percent of Detroit’s scoring came from two players. Nolan scored a game-high 22 points and Smith added 13 more.

Both teams played great defense as neither team shot better than 36 percent from the field with New York having a slight edge – 35.9 percent to 34.4 percent. Neither team was particularly sharp from behind the arc, as Detroit shot 31.3 percent (5-of-16) to Liberty’s 4-of-14 (28.6 percent).

As a result, both teams had a number of rebounds. After Christon’s 11 boards, four more New York players had four or more rebounds and Detroit had six players that grabbed that many boards. The Liberty had a one-board advantage, 37-to-36.