Liberty stunned at home, as the Sun steals Game 1, 78-63

After defeating the Mystic in a sweep, New York would face a grind it out team in the Connecticut Sun. Prior to the match-up, a lot of people felt that the Sun would be the favorite to win the series, because of their bigs and their length.

New York started the game very slow, with a bunch of turnovers and balls not hitting the bottom of the net. Dewanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas was putting on a clinic in the painted area against New York. They combined for 10 points in the paint and had New York in choke hold, until Sabrina Ionescu hit back-to-back threes to cut the Sun's lead to four at the end of the first quarter. Going into the second quarter, the Liberty started to find their stroke behind the arc. In a span of five minutes, New York hit six shots behind the arch and went on a 11-5 run to cut the Sun's lead to two. They finished the half strong, forcing six turnovers and ending the quarter on a 10-2 run to capture the lead, 40-37.

Ending the half on 10-2 run and getting Breanna Stewart going, New York started feeding her the ball at the start of the second half. Stevie had trouble finding her touch and it showed. I don't know if New York was tired, but the Sun was beating them on the boards, as well as second chance shots. Each time New York would go on a run, the Sun will punch back and go on a run themselves. It was the Bonner show in the fourth. Bonner caught the mamba mentality and went to work. From inside the paint to outside the arc, Bonner was money and had New York stunned at how to guard her. Bonner finished with 20 points.

Despite Stewart finishing with 19 points, New York failed to get going and lost their first playoff game this season.