How it all caved in on the Liberty in a devastating 18-second collapse

Eighteen seconds.

Eighteen crazy seconds.

Eighteen seconds that very well may determine the fate of the Liberty’s WNBA title aspirations

The Liberty’s stunning collapse against the Lynx in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday night at Barclays Center swung on a frenetic, puzzling and devastating sequence at the end of regulation.

The drama in the eventual 95-93 loss wasn’t complete until the final beats of overtime, but the wildest highs and lows, the glut of the “What did we just see?” moments came in one bizarre stretch to finish the fourth quarter.

Breanna Stewart reacts after missing a free throw at the end of regulation on Oct. 10.

Breanna Stewart gets fouled by Napheesa Collier during the fourth quarter on Oct. 10.

The Liberty, who had led by as many as 18 points and were up 15 with five minutes remaining, were nursing a three-point advantage after they were forced into a shot-clock violation with 18 seconds remaining.

After a Lynx timeout, the Liberty defense forced a miss on Courtney Williams’ potential game-tying 3-pointer, only to allow Alanna Smith to snare the offensive rebound in traffic.

“We had a lot of opportunities to close the game out,” Liberty center Jonquel Jones said.

Smith kicked it back out to Williams, who managed to get her feet organized behind the arc and knocked down the re-do while getting fouled by Sabrina Ionescu, overly aggressive in running to contest.

Williams calmly hit the free throw to finish the four-point play with 5 seconds remaining.

Shades of a reverse Larry Johnson.

Backwards L.

“Those things can break your back,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. “And they did.”

Trailing 84-83, the Liberty commenced a madcap series of attempted inbounds passes to set up a would-be game–winner.

On the first, they were fouled — because the Lynx had one foul to give.

On the second inbounds, Lynx star Napheesa Collier deflected the pass intended for Liberty counterpart Breanna Stewart and it went out of bounds.

Unable to determine who had touched it last, the referees threw up their hands and called a jump ball.

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Courtney Williams reacts after getting fouled in the fourth quarter on Oct. 10.
But the Lynx committed a violation on the jump ball, giving the Liberty another crack.

On this one, Collier registered a clean block on Stewart’s shot attempt, knocking the ball out of bounds under the basket with 1 second remaining.

One more time, with feeling: Ionescu threaded a final inbounds to a cutting Stewart, who was fouled by Collier with 0.8 seconds on the clock.

Stewart, who has talked repeatedly down the stretch about making up for her subpar performance in last year’s Finals, stepped to the line with the game in her hands.

Make.

Joy in Brooklyn.

Then miss.

Heartbreak.

“You’re just focused on making the shot, making the first one … and then the second one the same,” Stewart said. “It’s when you want to be thinking about nothing else.

“It definitely sucks to miss.”

Stewart also missed a potential game-tying running layup at the end of overtime.

“I want to be taking these shots,” Stewart said. “It’s very frustrating, but bounce back for Game 2.”