Liberty seeking first-round opponent (original) (raw)

Coach Sandy Brondello will point the Liberty toward an historic playoff run, as soon as she knows who New York will play in the first round. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

Sandy Brondello already has her team primed, healthy and in pole position for an historic playoff run toward this franchise’s first-ever WNBA title.

But there’s just one more regular-season game for the top-seeded Liberty’s coach to focus on.

And it will dictate New York’s first-round opponent as this much-anticipated postseason opens this weekend in Downtown Brooklyn.

“It was important for us. It was one of our goals set in that we set out, trying to get that home court advantage,” Brondello said after the Liberty grabbed the top seed in the playoffs with Tuesday’s 87-81 victory in Washington.

“Now, obviously we still have to take care of our business and in the playoffs,” she added.

That “business” won’t get started in earnest until after Thursday’s league-wide season finales.

Though New York (32-7) is locked into the top spot, there are three teams vying for a Game 1 appearance at Barclays Center on Sunday.

The Mystics and Chicago (both 13-26) are one game back of the Liberty’s incoming opponent, the Atlanta Dream (14-25), who can hold onto the coveted last available spot or get in with a win, or defeats by both Washington and the Sky.

The Mystics will have to beat playoff-bound Indiana and have the Dream lose to the Liberty, while Chicago must beat Connecticut, still trying to hold off reigning back-to-back WNBA champion Las Vegas for the third seed, and hope for losses by both Atlanta and the Sky.

Brondello’s squad hasn’t taken any opponent for granted this year, nor will it once the No. 8 seed is revealed Thursday night.

“I mean, we know it’s gonna be extremely hard,” she ceded.

“But getting home court, we have a great arena, we have great fans, so we’d want to play in front of our fans as much as we can.”

Though they have been at close to full health for the first time this year over the season’s final month, the Liberty may opt to get their starters some rest Thursday.

But limited minutes by the star-studded starting five of Breanna Stewart, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot won’t necessarily provide a break for the Dream, who watched New York get 40 bench points during Tuesday’s win in D.C.

Reserves Nyara Sabally and Leonie Fiebich led that charge against the Mystics, combining for 25 points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals and a blocked shot off the pine.

“Yeah, it’s been fun. It’s been fun to watch them,” Brondello said of her first two players off the bench. “They have great chemistry, obviously them playing together.”

“You know, they’re both key players for us and Nyara’s had to struggle with the few injuries, you know, early, but she’s so critical to our success and we’ve seen what Leo’s been able to do.”

Liberty super rookie Leonie Fiebich will try to help New York to its franchise-record 33rd win of the year Thursday vs. Atlanta. Photo by Brandon Todd/New York Liberty

While Sabally, who competed for Team Germany alongside Fiebich at the 2024 Paris Games, has made all 25 of her appearances off the bench, her fellow reserve has started 15 of the Liberty’s 39 games.

Fiebich, a star on the German professional circuit before her first foray into the best women’s basketball league in the world, has been the best rookie in WNBA history when it comes to plus-minus efficiency.

With 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting Tuesday, Fiebich posted a plus-11 rating. That gave her 18 games of plus-10 or more this season, the most by any first-year player in the history of the league.

“To me she’s not really a rookie,” Sabally said of Fiebich. “She’s been proud for so long and now just like her coming in here and using that kind of knowledge and what she did overseas and she kind of just picked right up.”

The Dream had to beat Washington and Chicago in their previous two games to get into win-and-get-in position.

On Tuesday, Jordin Canada put up 18 points and former Liberty center Tina Charles added 16 and 14 rebounds as Atlanta pulled away from the Sky for an 86-70 triumph and control of its own playoff destiny.

The Dream have lost their three previous meetings with the top-seeded Liberty this year.

In its last visit to Brooklyn on June 30, Atlanta suffered an 81-75 defeat as New York rode Stewart’s 22 points and 12 rebounds to a comeback win.

After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, the Liberty cut the deficit to one entering the fourth quarter and reeled off 10 straight points to open the final period.

“We continued to compete, playing our style of basketball,” Stewart said. “We had some off days we weren’t used to and had to get the rhythm back.”

Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright defended her squad’s tenacity to push New York despite missing some key players in that matchup.

“At some point we’ll be able to put it all together hopefully when we have everyone back full force,” Wright said.

“Tonight our crew played hard, they got fatigued. when you get fatigued, it’s hard to push through and do the things you’re supposed to do because you let fatigue take over. I don’t fault them for that.”

Brondello isn’t likely to fault her team if it suffers a letdown against a desperate team with the playoffs just around the corner.

But the Liberty aren’t likely to let the Dream cruise into the postseason and show up here with extra confidence Sunday.

Also, New York can establish a new franchise record with its 33rd win Thursday.

“So that’s our focus, it’s just that mentality and the extra level we have to go to, the extra physicality, how we have to play better if we want to, you know, obviously to win any game,” Brondello said.

“So that’s what we’re talking about. But most importantly, ‘Let’s continue to trust what’s got us here and making sure that we’re playing in the right way.'”

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

All-Star power forward Jonquel Jones has 999 points in one game shy of two full seasons with the New York Liberty. AP Photo by Tony Gutierrez

GIVE ME LIBERTY: Jones is one point shy of 1,000 as a member of the Liberty. The 2021 WNBA MVP as a member of the Connecticut Sun signed here prior to last year, when she helped New York reach the Finals for the first time since 2002. … New York has won five straight meetings with Atlanta dating to an 86-79 loss to the Dream here on June 13, 2023. … The WNBA has not yet released the time slot the Liberty will play their Game 1 on Sunday.

Liberty seeking first-round opponent (original) (raw)

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