Breanna Stewart draws Patrick Ewing’s comparisons for the lost apartment to the loss of freedom

The New York Liberty lost Game 1 of the WNBA Finals to the Minnesota Lynx in devastating fashion. The Liberty blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter and eventually fell 95-93 in overtime at the 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 in New York of late.

Much of that was due to Minnesota.

Napheesa Collier was brilliant defensively in the crunch and hit what turned out to be the game-winning basket. While Courtney Williams imposed the offense in the comeback as she looks set for a top-flight series.

However, amid all 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

The latter brought back painful memories for New York basketball fans given how reminiscent it was of an infamous foul by a former Knicks great.

In Game 7 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Ewing drove down the lane in the dying seconds against the Indiana Pacers, only to miss the conversion. A mark would have tied the game.

Stewart had a similar look late in overtime in Brooklyn, in a similar situation, albeit in Game 1. Immediately after Breanna didn’t convert, fans began to draw the parallels.

X user @LawMurrayTheNU wrote: “Patrick Ewing, 1995 East semis vs Pacers Game 7” over video footage of Stewie’s lost bunny.

Although @Kazeem was one of many others to express the same sentiment by posting, “Stewie pulled an Ewing, me 😳”

Another user @JomiAdeniran posted, “Breanna Stewart for the tie!” along with a gif of Miss Ewing.

To his credit, Stewart tried to put the bad taste behind him after the game, saying the Liberty should take the loss on the chin.

However, he was well aware of the gravity of his opportunity, one that he would surely like to take back.

Stewart summed it up by saying, “At the end of overtime, I probably had one of my cleanest looks … and I just didn’t get it.”

Fortunately for her and the Liberty, that foul didn’t end the streak like it did for Ewing. Instead, it just marked a heartbreaking loss.