One of the keys to the New York Liberty winning last year's WNBA title was having the league's best regular season record at 32-8. It put them in position to host Game 5 of the finals playing against the Minnesota Lynx at home at the Barclays Center, coming away with a dramatic 67-62 overtime victory, taking the best-of-five series 3-2 and earning the franchise's first-ever championship.
However, the path to this season's title will begin on the road. The Liberty will close out the regular season tonight in Chicago versus the Sky as the No. 5 seed going into the postseason. A 75-66 win over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday in Brooklyn improved the Liberty to 26-17. With just one game left before the playoffs begin, their place in the standings had been cemented because of their inability to catch the teams above them, and those below them are unable to tie or surpass the Liberty.
They will face the No. 4 seed Phoenix Mercury this weekend in Game 1 of their best-of-three opening round series. As of AmNews press time, the WNBA had not released this weekend's schedule. The Liberty still have the talent and experience to make a run and become back-to-back champions, and they looked the part when they started this season with a franchise record 9-0. But injuries to their three best players, forward Breanna Stewart, guard Sabrina Ionescu, and forward/center Jonquel Jones at various stages derailed them.
After the Liberty's 84-76 win last Friday against the Seattle Storm on the road, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello emphasized how valuable the trio is to the team. When (Ionescu, Jones, and Stewart) have (finished games), we're 11-0," Brondello said. "We haven't seen a lot of it. That's the only downside of it this year. I think the last time we saw it was just straight off the All-Star break before Stewie went down." Stewart and Jones have both missed 14 games, and Sabrina Ionescu had missed five of the last six contests with injuries to her left foot before returning to the lineup on Tuesday. Stewart and Jones also played against the Mystics when the Liberty finally had their full roster with the return of center Nyara Sabally, who played in her first time since July 16, recovering from a knee injury.
"We look complete," said Brondello before the game. "It's getting the chemistry and rotation down pat. And playing good basketball so we can go into the playoffs really confident."