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INDIANAPOLIS — The Liberty’s nine-game win streak came to an end Saturday as they fell 102-88 to the Fever.
The loss has implications for the Commissioner’s Cup standings, too.
Entering Saturday, the Liberty were in position to host the Seattle Storm in the championship game July 1.
But those chances were greatly diminished by the loss.
The Liberty are 9-1 this season and 3-1 in the Commissioner’s Cup games.
The Fever are also 3-1, but they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Barring an upset loss to the Sun on Tuesday, Indiana appears the front-runner to represent the Eastern Conference in this year’s in-season tournament’s championship game.
“It is what it is. It’s something we can’t change,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “We would’ve loved to be there. And obviously we’re going to have to have some massive help on our side. But in the end, it’s about being the best team at the end of the season and that’s where we got to make sure that we continue to focus on.”
Jonquel Jones didn’t make the trip to Indiana as she continues to work her way back from a sprained right ankle.
Brondello said pregame that Jones is “progressing” and anticipates the 2025 Finals MVP will play Tuesday against the Dream.
“We’re really mindful,” Brondello said. “It’s big picture. We don’t want players to play, especially at this time of the year … when they’re not 100 percent.”
Saturday was the second straight game Jones missed with this injury.
To make matters worse, the Liberty were also without Leonie Fiebich, who’s away from the team for the foreseeable future because of EuroBasket.
With Jones and Fiebich out, Nyara Sabally and Kennedy Burke were promoted to the starting lineup.
Sabally had 10 points, nine rebounds and a career-high four steals in nearly 31 minutes.
Meanwhile, Burke had a tough offensive outing, going 1-for-5 from the field and 0-for-3 from deep.
She finished with three points, three rebounds and three assists.
The Liberty were probably bound to slip up eventually, considering no team has ever gone undefeated in a WNBA season.
The Fever were much more disruptive and met the Liberty with physicality.
The Liberty, though, had several defensive breakdowns, which led to open looks and easy buckets.
New York paid the price by sometimes leaving the corners open.
Lexie Hull knocked down three 3-pointers, and Sydney Colson added two.
“[The Fever] executed well, and we had so many breakdowns on defense and they made shots,” Brondello said. “They really punished us on that end, making 17 3s on 35 [attempts], it was just too wide open. So little lack of communication. … A lot of things that we can learn and … we’re nowhere near where we need to be.”
