Ugly fourth quarter dooms Fever against Liberty, Likes and Dislikes
The Fever stunk in the fourth quarter.
MY COUCH, Ind. – The Fever were in New York on Saturday night for their second Commissioner's Cup game of 2026. They opened cup play with a win on Thursday, and they were battling the 2024 and 2025 Eastern Conference cup champs this time around.
The Fever were following up an important victory. Grabbing another one would have been big for the momentum and psyche of the team after a frustrating loss last weekend. But New York, even without Sabrina Ionescu, is a tough team to beat.
This was another measuring stick game for the Fever, who have struggled in the Barclays Center of late. Likes and dislikes from Fever vs Liberty.
Tony East
LIKE: Early footwork and offense
The Fever's offense looked great early. The ball movement, player movement, and passing were causing all sorts of problems for the Liberty. The Fever created a good look almost every trip.
Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston were leading the way. Mitchell was flying around and hitting jumpers, often causing confusion with her speed. She scored the Fever's first five points.
Boston followed up that stretch with her own brilliance, almost all of which came after some terrific footwork. She twisted around defenders and bumped others, then finished at the cup. She and Mitchell were leading the early Fever scoring.
Caitlin Clark had multiple assists early, too. The stars were the stars as the Fever built an early lead.
DISLIKE: Losing Marine
Marine Johannes is known for her creativity more than anything. But her shooting and passing abilities are threats for New York, and she proved it early as the Fever lost her with the ball.
Johannes got open for two shots from beyond the arc, and they were wide open. Both of them dropped. She drilled cutters – though she didn't log a first quarter assist – and herself trotted to the rim without the ball for a basket at one point.
The Fever were physical and somewhat effective against the Liberty stars in the first quarter. But Johannes kept the hosts in the game with eight early points.
LIKE: Monique Billings, finally
Across the Fever's previous four games, Monique Billings had two made shots. She was 2/6 from the field in that stretch and was getting inconsistent minutes, deservedly.
In that same stretch, Billings averaged 4.5 rebounds per game. Then, the first quarter in New York happened. She hit two shots in just that period, finishing it with five points. And she grabbed four rebounds, too. It was Billings' most productive stretch in ages.
After a solid start to the season, Billings had been trending in the wrong direction. She needed a better game, and the first quarter against the Liberty was a strong start.
After one quarter: Fever 25, Liberty 21
LIKE: Kelsey Mitchell's speed
While her finishing was subpar in the first half, Mitchell's speed was creating all sorts of chances for the Fever in the second quarter. She kept getting to the rim and forcing the Liberty defense to rotate.
Mitchell started 3/11, but almost all of her 11 shots attempts were ones that the Fever should have been happy with. She reached double figures before halftime, and her burst was causing problems. Shots were going to drop eventually if she kept playing that way... right?
DISLIKE: Poor close to the first half
The Fever led 40-31 with one minute left in the first half and had a good bit of momentum. Much of that was gone by the halftime break.
With 57 seconds to go, Satou Sabally finished an and-one layup. She missed the free throw, but Breanna Stewart grabbed the rebound and was fouled moments later. In 3.3 seconds, the Liberty scored four points.
Another foul with three seconds left in the second quarter put Leonie Fiebich at the charity stripe and she, too, made both free throws. It was a 6-0 run during the final minute of the half.
Also in that minute: A lost challenge for the Fever along with a Billings turnover. Suddenly, it was anyone's game again.
Halftime score: Fever 40, Liberty 37
LIKE: More Billings
Billings continued her effective play well beyond her strong start. She was productive in the second quarter, too, and put together some good possessions to open the second half.
Early in the third quarter, she had a well-timed cut to the rim just before the shot clock went off and finished a pass from Clark. Boston found her running the floor just over one minute later, then she scored off of another pass from Clark.
About halfway through the third quarter, Billings was leading the Fever in both points (14) and rebounds (eight). To that point in the game, she was fantastic.
DISLIKE: Aliyah Boston injuries
The CBS broadcast showed Boston riding an exercise bike during the third quarter. They reported that she went back to the locker room after exiting in that frame with 5:25 on the clock.
CBS then reported that Boston was questionable to return with a lower right leg injury. That's the same ailment she's been dealing with all season. Moments after that report from CBS, Boston re-entered the game – her absence was for just over three minutes in total.
Those three minutes were dead even on the scoreboard, but the Liberty scored seven-straight points after Boston entered. After three quarters, the Fever lead was down to three at 57-54.
LIKE: Early fourth quarter defense
The Fever were struggling to score to start the fourth quarter, but they were able to hold their lead across the first few minutes thanks to some connected, physical defense.
They shrunk the floor and crowded the paint, then guarded Stewart and Jonquel Jones with bruising efforts down low. It took more than four minutes for New York to make a shot in the final frame.
The Liberty could have forced the Fever to cover more ground by making threes. But with about six minutes to go, the hosts were 2/17 from long range. Some of that is good luck for the Fever, but their defense was working.
DISLIKE: Early fourth quarter offense
Despite everything good the Fever were doing defensively to start winning time, their lead actually dropped in that stretch. That's because they couldn't score, putting just six points on the scoreboard in the first four minutes of the final period.
Indiana started the quarter 2/8 from the field and missed one of their two free throws. They had one turnover, too. Their defense kept them in the lead, barely, but their offense was struggling against the Liberty's length.
DISLIKE: Fouls
In the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, the Liberty took 13 foul shots. 12 of them went in. Boston, Clark, and Myisha Hines-Allen were all in foul trouble entering crunch time.
The Fever couldn't stop fouling. That, on top of their suddenly-in-the-mud offense, caused their grip on the game to slip away. Stewart finished two foul shots to give the Liberty a lead with four minutes to go.
DISLIKE: An awful close
The Liberty couldn't make anything to start the fourth quarter, as stated above. The Fever deserve credit for that. But once New York started to make shots, this game was as good as over.
The hosts dominated the fourth quarter. The Fever couldn't score, shooting 7/20 in the final frame. Their defense crumbled and they kept fouling – the Liberty took 23 foul shots in the fourth quarter.
Altogether, it led to a 29-18 fourth quarter in favor of the Liberty. That was crushing for the Fever's chances, and they fell on the road.
The loss pushed the Fever to 5-5. The final score: Liberty 83, Fever 75.
Thank you for reading. The Fever next play on Monday, and I'll have a postgame story after that one. Sign up to have it sent straight to your email inbox.
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