In a perfect world, the Liberty would have returned home to a rocking Madison Square Garden after a dismal loss to the Indiana Fever in Game 2 and won.
They would have fed off the energy of an electric crowd Tuesday night, defeated the Fever and continued a phenomenal playoff run to the W.N.B.A. finals.
In this perfect Liberty world, there would have been no Tamika Catchings.
She ripped apart the Liberty’s dreamland script, scoring 14 points, as Indiana shocked the top-seeded Liberty, 66-51, in the Eastern Conference finals.
As Liberty star players passed up big shots and faded in big moments, Catchings took control of the game.