NEW YORK (ESPN) — Tina Charles didn’t sleep well before the New York Liberty’s game on Sunday in Washington, D.C. She was also somewhat anxious before the deciding game of the opening-round series against the Mystics on Tuesday, and then again before the first game Wednesday of the Eastern Conference finals.
Teammate Kiah Stokes, a Liberty rookie, said Charles pretty much never rests. Well, not literally, of course, but in the sense that Charles is ever-vigilant. She is always going over things in her head, considering the possibilities, trying to account for whatever she and her team might face next. She’s probably even doing that when she finally does go to sleep. On-court warrior, off-court worrier.
But after Wednesday’s sock-it-to-’em 84-67 victory over Indiana at Madison Square Garden, even Charles acknowledged she might relax just a little bit for a day or so. The Fever would prefer she take at least a week off.
Because at the top of the list of everything the Liberty did right against Indiana was Charles’ performance: 18 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, two blocked shots. And right behind that was Stokes’ 21 points — on 9-of-11 shooting from the field — five rebounds and three blocked shots.