With just two weeks and seven games remaining in the regular season, the Liberty keep rolling toward the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs. They have already clinched a postseason spot, but there is still work to be done. The Liberty held a 2.5 game lead over the No. 2 seed Connecticut Sun, which were 24-8 when the league’s slate of games tipped-off on Tuesday. The Liberty will host the Seattle Storm tonight at the Barclays Center 27-6.
In addition to the Liberty, four other teams have secured their place in the playoffs: the Sun, Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, and Storm. The Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury look likely, but the eighth spot will probably not be determined until the final regular season game is played.
After a rough 94-88 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on August 28, the second game of a three-game West Coast road trip, the New York Liberty reasserted their dominance with a 98-85 win over the Storm last Friday to go 2-1 out west. They had defeated the Phoenix Mercury by 84-70 on August 26 to open the trip. The Liberty faced the Sparks without starting forward Jonquel Jones, who was listed as having a non-COVID illness.
Jones was back in the lineup to help the Liberty calm the Storm — no simple task, because the Storm began this week 19-12 and the No. 5 seed in the WNBA standings. In the end, Breanna Stewart (32 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (25 points) displayed their undeniable adept Paris Olympics gold medal-winning skills. In a statistic that stunned even Liberty coach Sandy Brondello, New York out-rebounded Seattle 45 to 17.
“After the Olympic break, we’ve hit the glass way more consistently than we ever have,” said Brondello. “That’s just having discipline, and knowing those extra possessions help.”
For Stewart, it was a bit of a homecoming: She played the first six seasons of her professional career with the Storm (missing 2019 due to injury), winning two WNBA titles. She acknowledged that she was disappointed that this was the Liberty’s only game in Seattle because it is always heartwarming to reconnect with fans.
Liberty reserve center Nyara Sabally continues to progress and seems to be playing at a higher level since the Olympics. In the win over the Storm, she had seven points and eight rebounds in 14 minutes of play. “Nyara is very efficient,” said Brondello. “Rebounding, that presence there. She’ll learn a lot from this. She had to guard Nneka [Ogwumike]. That was a hard guard for her at times, but the experience is certainly going to help her. She’s critical for us as we move forward.”
After the Storm, the Liberty will meet up with the Aces this Sunday (4:00 p.m.) in Brooklyn and the Dallas Wings on the road next Tuesday.
