New York crawls into the playoffs as the #8 seed, setting up a tough first round series

By Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

BARCLAYS CENTER – The New York Liberty have a monumental task ahead of them as they look to avoid a second straight first round exit. After back-to-back losses to the Atlanta Dream, the Liberty fell to the final playoff seed, sending them to Minnesota for the opening round.

Oddly enough, the Liberty match up better against the league-leading Lynx than most other teams in the playoff field. They won both home matchups by double digits, losing the lone game in Minnesota by five. Still, with plenty of injury issues New York is limping into the Midwest as heavy underdogs.

Both games this week against Atlanta ended in blowout losses. Monday’s loss effectively sealed New York’s fate as the final seed – and without Breanna Stewart, Wednesday’s matchup didn’t go much better. To make matters worse, star Center Jonquel Jones limped to the locker room in the 3rd quarter after rolling her ankle.

Now the focus turns back to a championship rivalry, a rematch of both the 2024 WNBA Finals (won in five games by the Liberty) and Commissioner’s Cup (won by the Lynx). It will be difficult for New York to handle stars like Rookie of the Year shoe-in and MVP candidate Olivia Miles, superstar Napheesa Collier, and dynamic guard Courtney Williams. That being said, the star power of this Liberty team can’t be understated. They’ve shown that they’re capable of turning up the heat in big moments, as seen in this year’s Commissioner’s Cup final against the Las Vegas Aces.

On Sunday, the Liberty will play their second game of the year in the North Star State before coming back home to the Barclays Center for Game 2 either Tuesday or Wednesday. If necessary, Game 3 will be back in Minnesota on Thursday or Friday. The schedule for the first round series is to be announced.