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Friday, Aug. 4 8:00pm ET
Liberty's strong finish sinks Miracle | |||||
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BOX SCORE
NEW YORK (AP) -- Teresa Weatherspoon got knocked out, but the New York Liberty won without her. Tari Phillips scored 18 points and Becky Hammon scored nine in the final 7½ minutes without Weatherspoon as New York beat the Orlando Miracle 70-57 Friday night before a crowd of 17,114. Weatherspoon broke her nose and briefly lost consciousness when she ran into a cameraman under the Liberty basket. The feisty New York guard and Orlando's Shannon Johnson collided on a fastbreak as Johnson went for a steal. Both went sailing out of bounds, but Weatherspoon lay motionless for about four minutes. She left the court with the help of a trainer and returned to the bench near the end of the game, but was taken to Beth Israel North hospital and held overnight for observation. "She got a pretty hard knock on the head," Liberty team physician Susan Craig Scott said. "She came down on the camera and the cameraman's knee. We think she lost consciousness. She came to and knows where she is and seems fine." The Eastern Conference-leading Liberty (19-10) extended their lead to three games over Cleveland, which lost to Indiana on Friday night, with three games remaining. Hammon finished with 15 points for New York, winners of six straight and 12 of 13. "We knew we'd have to pick up the energy and intensity," Hammon said of Weatherspoon's absence. Adrienne Johnson had 14 points for Orlando (14-15), which lost its seventh consecutive game but stayed in third place in the playoff race. Washington, which defeated Detroit, moved into fourth place in the battle for the final playoff spot. Phillips, who saw limited play with Orlando last season, added seven rebounds and five steals. Taj McWilliams had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Miracle. Phillips initially didn't know Weatherspoon was hurt. "I remember grabbing the rebound and looking for Spoon and I didn't see her," Phillips said. "I'm glad she's going to be OK. She's a very important part of this team. She's a leader. I was very happy that a lot of the players, including myself, rallied around that to finish the game." Trailing by as many as 16 in the second half, Orlando made it 60-55 on Shannon Johnson's jumper with 2:15 remaining. But New York went on a 10-2 run to close it out. Vickie Johnson, Hammon and Shea Mahoney combined to make 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:16. "In the second half, we played more disciplined and executed," Orlando coach Carolyn Peck said. "We cut the game to five points. But we had a few defensive breakdowns." New York took a 42-26 lead on Sue Wicks' reverse layup with 16:45 remaining. McWilliams' layup capped an 8-0 Orlando run to cut the lead to 42-34 three minutes later. Nykesha Sales made a 3-point play to bring the Miracle within eight again, 53-45. The Liberty used a 26-8 run to take a 35-24 halftime lead. Crystal Robinson had seven points in the run. New York shot 47.3 percent from the field, made 14 of 18 free throws and outscored the Miracle 36-20 in the paint. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Miami 60 Charlotte 50
New York 70
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