Liberty's Jonquel Jones finally solves her lynx mystery

Before the Finals began, it had become apparent that this could be a potential weakness for Liberty – a key factor in the Lynx winning three of four meetings during the regular season.

The Lynx had figured out how to stop Jonquel Jones, clog the ball and all but eliminate that part of the Liberty's potent offense – both in scoring and in relief.

However, in the first two finals, the Liberty seemed to find a solution.

Jones contributed 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-for-13 shooting in Liberty's win over the Lynx on Sunday – which evened the best-of-five series at once – after adding 24 points and 10 rebounds 14 shot attempts led their Game 1 loss.

At times, the defense of Alanna Smith and the rest of the Lynx prevented the veteran forward from getting touches and points.

But overall, Jones delivered despite a difficult defensive game.

“They create traffic,” head coach Sandy Brondello said Sunday before the Liberty’s 80-66 win. “They’re trying to take something away. They don't want JJ ​​to have it, so we still have to try to find our points of view – but we can't force it if it's not there. We have to skip it and then it’s the next action.”

In an offense defined by pace, ball movement and spacing, Jones, the league's MVP in 2021, plays a crucial role.

It can create positioning around the blocks.

She can shoot and make 3-point shots. She can turn no-look passes and pass the ball to others.

And she is in the midst of her third straight Finals appearance, after one with the Suns in 2022 and one with the Liberty last year.

In the first quarter on Sunday, Jones got ahead of Smith and converted a layup from the left side just before the shot clock expired, giving the Liberty a five-point lead.

She grabbed an offensive rebound before converting a layup in the next quarter, and when the Lynx cut their deficit to four in the third quarter, Jones responded with a layup.

It was a marked difference from Game 1, when she scored 10 points in the first quarter and only scored 14 points in the remainder of regulation and overtime after the Lynx switched more frequently.

It also reversed her struggles against Minnesota during the regular season – when she scored a combined 16 points in three of the four meetings and added an anomaly of 21 points.

This time, in Game 2, their score held throughout all four quarters, not just showing up early and disappearing late or missing altogether, as in previous meetings.

And if anything, it could be Jones' latest step toward solving the most puzzling — and enduring — challenge of her season.

“We’re working on it,” Brondello said before Sunday’s game, to get Jones more touches on the ball. “It's not that we're not working on it. We had some bad turnovers trying to get her the ball.”