Breanna Stewart Draws Patrick Ewing Comparisons for Missed Layup in Liberty Loss
The New York Liberty lost Game 1 of the WNBA Finals to the Minnesota Lynx in devastating fashion. The Liberty blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead to eventually fall 95-93 in overtime at Barclays Center.
In fact, the Lynx became the first team in league history to come back from at least 15 points down in the final five minutes to win a playoff contest.
Which means a lot of things went wrong for New York late.
Per @ESPNStatsInfo: The Lynx trailed by 15 points with fewer than five minutes remaining
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) October 11, 2024
They are the first team in WNBA postseason history to win a game after trailing by 15+ points in the final five minutes of regulation
Entering tonight, teams were 0-183 in that scenario
🤯
Much of that was due to Minnesota.
Napheesa Collier was brilliant defensively in crunchtime and hit what became the game-winning basket. While Courtney Williams commanded the offense in the comeback, as she seems poised for a breakout series.
However, amid all of the negatives for the Liberty, two moments will likely stand out: A missed free throw at the end of regulation by Breanna Stewart that would have won the game and a missed layup at the end of overtime, also by Stewart, that would have tied it.
The latter brought back painful memories for New York basketball fans given how reminiscent it was to an infamous miss by a former Knicks great.
In Game 7 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals Ewing barreled down the lane in the final seconds against the Indiana Pacers, only to not convert at the basket. A make would have tied the game.
Stewart had a similar look at the end of overtime in Brooklyn, in a similar situation, albeit in Game 1. Immediately after Breanna failed to convert, fans began drawing the parallels.
X user @LawMurrayTheNU wrote, "Patrick Ewing, 1995 East semis vs Pacers Game 7" atop video footage of the missed bunny from Stewie.
Patrick Ewing, 1995 East semis vs Pacers Game 7 https://t.co/8fnjhcIZ01
— Law Murray 🏟️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) October 11, 2024
While @Kazeem was one of many others expressing the same sentiment in posting, "Stewie pulled a Ewing, yo 😳"
Stewie pulled a Ewing, yo 😳
— Kazeem Famuyide 🇳🇬 🍎 (@Kazeem) October 11, 2024
Another user @JomiAdeniran posted, “Breanna Stewart for the tie!”, along with a gif of the Ewing miss.
“Breanna Stewart for the tie!” pic.twitter.com/2Y3O3SzBJm
— Oluwajomiloju (@JomiAdeniran) October 11, 2024
To her credit, Stewart tried to put any bad taste behind her postgame, saying the Liberty needed to take the loss on the chin.
However, she was keenly aware of the gravity of her blown opportunity, one she surely would like to have back.
Stewart summed it up by saying, "At the end of overtime I had probably one of my cleanest looks...and didn't make it."
Fortunately for her and the Liberty, that miss did not end the series like it did for Ewing. Instead, it only punctuated one heartbreaking loss.
Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his burgeoning YouTube show. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak on SI!