The Toronto Tempo snapped their four-game losing skid, beating the New York Liberty 93 – 91, in a thrilling game that treated fans in Montreal to plenty of emotions and drama.
We break down the good, bad, comedic, and outlook from this game.
The Good
This was an all around great team effort on both ends of the court. In the first half, while the Liberty started with a very big and tall lineup, it was the Tempo that fought for rebounds on the defensive end and hit their 3-point shots on the offensive end.
In contrast to the first meeting between the two teams when the Liberty shot 14 of 32 from the 3-point line to the Tempo’s 6 of 19, the Liberty only shot 19% from 3 this time around and 43% overall. Meanwhile, the Tempo shot much better, 38% from 3 and 52% overall.
Special shout out to Laura Juškaitė who chipped in 18 points (after her 25-point game against the Wings), shooting 7 of 8, or 88% from the field. Not only did she hit her 3’s, she also brilliantly posted up New York’s smaller guards and found lots of success in the paint. We know the Tempo’s offense works best when they are hitting their 3’s, but their offense really hums when players like Juškaitė also find success scoring the ball in the paint.
And, of course, we have to give the biggest shout out to the Tempo’s all-star, Marina Mabrey, who dazzled once again scoring 30 points. From logo 3’s to post-ups to driving layups, Mabrey showcased her entire offensive bag to fans at the Bell Centre.
The Tempo also took full advantage of the Liberty’s lackadaisical defense, turning the Libs over time and time again to get into the Tempo’s potent transition offense. The Tempo had 28 fast break points to only two for the Liberty.
Finally, when the game got really tight, we have to give kudos to the late game heroics of Nyara Sabally, who made a brilliant cut to the basket for a layup to give the Tempo a 93 – 91 lead then played clean and solid defense on two-time MVP and recent Commissioner’s Cup MVP Breanna Stewart during the last possession of the game to seal the victory.
The Bad
Unfortunately, this game ended up being too close for comfort. As has been the case of late, the Tempo were victims to another 4th quarter comeback.
Even though the Tempo were leading the Liberty by 16 points at the start of the quarter, New York adapted well in the 4th by full court pressing the ball handler as soon as the Tempo inbounded the ball. This pressurized defence slowed the Tempo down and threw off their offensive rhythm.
Give the Liberty credit. Their defensive scheme worked cutting the lead and giving them a chance to win or tie with 10 seconds left. The Tempo managed to avoid another fourth quarter disappointment, thanks to stellar team defense and late-game heroics on both ends by Sabally.
We do have to acknowledge that the Liberty have only won two of their last eight games. The Tempo did not see this Liberty team at their best. However, the Tempo were the better team for most of this game and deserved the win.
The Comedic
Okay, we have to talk about shoe gate. For anyone who hasn’t watched this, you HAVE to go back and watch this game on WNBA League Pass (be sure to watch the Tempo broadcast).
Throughout the game, Mabrey and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had been going at each other physically. Prior to this moment, a flagrant one was called on Laney-Hamilton when she hit Mabrey in the face with two minutes left in the second quarter and both players also received technicals for pushing and shoving one another in the 3rd quarter.
With 1:48 minutes left in the 4th quarter in a one-point game, a shoe hits Mabrey in the back. TSN commentator, Matt Cullen, then says, “It was [Jonquel] Jones’ shoe; I have no idea how it got in Mabrey’s hand.”
The broadcast proceeded to try solving this mystery and watched the replay again and again to figure out how and why the shoe hit Mabrey.
After review, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected from the game for throwing the shoe (hilariously, the New York Liberty broadcast did not mention shoe gate once. They did not show it. They reported that Laney-Hamilton got ejected then just moved on).
Questions swirled online about whether Laney-Hamilton meant to throw the shoe at Mabrey. The Liberty defended her and said that she was trying to throw the shoe back to Jones, but missed and accidentally hit Mabrey. To Mabrey’s immense credit, she also brushed off the incident and simply stated that, “I am working on not being rage baited.”
Thanks to a fan angle, we can now clearly see some evidence that Jones was running back at the same time as the shoe came flying down the court.
I think we can safely determine that, unless more footage comes out clearly showing the opposite, the shoe was not thrown intentionally. If the two players involved hadn’t been the same players with bad blood between them throughout the game, I am sure this wouldn’t have been a story.
The fact that it was those two players. And, the fact that I have never seen anything like this before during a game makes shoe gate that much more unforgettable.
It was seriously top notch drama and comedy. I love women’s basketball.
The Outlook
After a much needed win, the Toronto Tempo will now head back to Coca Coliseum to face the Washington Mystics for the third time this season. While the Tempo lost both games, both were very close games and the last game was lost to a Sonia Citron buzzer beater.
This will be the Tempo’s only game against a team whose record is around 0.500 before going back to playing the top tier teams in the league. Toronto is also currently two games back in the standings from Washington. If the Tempo are to make any playoff noise during this tough stretch, getting this game is a must.
However, with three elite bigs on their team in Shakira Austin, Kiki Iriafen, and Lauren Betts, we know the Mystics have a clear size advantage over the Tempo and they will use that to their full advantage again. The Tempo will have to muster up every bit of energy they have to fight hard on the boards if they want to get this game.
