The Liberty may not know the immediate status of two of their biggest stars. But they know who they’ll be playing when the playoffs open Sunday.
New York’s 83-65 loss to the Atlanta Dream gave the Liberty the eighth and final seed in this year’s playoff field.
They’ll face the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the best-of-three first-round series starting Sunday in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Even with the playoff status of Breanna Stewart (left knee soreness) and Jonquel Jones (twisted left ankle) not immediately known, Sabrina Ionescu said she’s “excited” for this 2024 Finals rematch.
“I love it,” she said. “It really doesn’t matter. But I think there’s obviously a rivalry with having played them in the Finals and having won and they’ve been the best team all year and we haven’t. But now we get an opportunity to go out and upset a No. 1 seed.”
The Dream overwhelmed the Liberty from the jump. They attempted 13 more shots in the first half than the Liberty.
New York trailed by 15 points at halftime. The Liberty’s 26 first-half points were the fewest New York has scored in a half since 2022.
Jones rolled her ankle after stepping on a fan’s foot in the third quarter and missed the entire fourth.
The Liberty’s reserves made things interesting late. They cut the Dream’s lead to seven twice in the fourth quarter, but Atlanta held on.
New York finishes with a 26-18 record — a loss more than a year ago under Sandy Brondello.
The Liberty will anxiously await updates on Stewart and Jones, while also looking ahead to the Lynx, who spent most of this season looking like the team nobody wanted to see in the playoffs.
Recently, though, the Lynx look vulnerable and on the verge of a potential collapse.
The Lynx enter Thursday’s final day of the regular season with the league’s best record at 32-11. They secured the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs Tuesday night thanks to the Portland Fire beating the Golden State Valkyries.
But Minnesota’s recent slump is hard to ignore.
The Lynx have lost four of their past five games. Two of those losses came after the FIBA World Cup break. One was at the hands of New York, which rocked the Lynx 93-81 on Friday.
Tuesday’s 96-77 loss to the Indiana Fever was considerably uglier.
An additional concern for the Lynx is the status of rookie phenom Olivia Miles, who was a late scratch Tuesday with a left calf injury.
Even with the Lynx’s recent struggles, the Liberty know they could still pack a mean punch when they face them in the first round.
Leonie Fiebich said the team doesn’t care about matchups.
“I mean, No. 1 to 8, I don’t want to play anybody in the first round and at the same time, everybody,” Fiebich said. “We’re gonna take on whatever challenge, and we have to beat everybody on the way, anyway.”
Ionescu feels that way, too.
“We’re not a traditional eight seed,” she said. “A lot of things didn’t go our way (this season) … but now we have an opportunity. It doesn’t matter what seed you are, you’re just playing.”
