Liberty Fall Before Playoffs, Still Waiting on 'One'

The Minnesota Lynx prevented the New York Liberty from locking up the first seed on the WNBA playoff bracket.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

BROOKLYN -- Facing Minnesota has been anything but a no-rough-stuff-type-of-deal for the New York Liberty.

New York missed out on a chance to secure the top seed on the WNBA playoff bracket on Sunday afternoon, dropping an 88-79 decision to the Minnesota Lynx at Barclays Center. The Liberty's magic number to secure the seed remains one but there's no doubt some lingering uneasiness surrounding an otherise immaculate metropolitan aura.

In the calendar year, the Liberty (31-7) have been on the wrong side of the scoreboard on only nine occasions, including exhibitions. Minnesota (29-9) is responsible for three of those tallies after Sunday, which saw them lead by as much as 26 before New York put on a futile, if not furious, rally that came as close as seven before fizzling.

"I think it's tough to win any game with only two players and double figures," Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu said. "Ultimately, you might get away with it once or twice, but not against Minnesota."

Ionescu was one half of that couple but it took a 4-of-21 effort from the field to get to 13 points. The Lynx built a big lead with marksmanship from deep (9-of-18) and converting 11 Liberty turnovers into 21 points.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

"You see how well-balanced their scoring was," Ionescu said of the Lynx, who had five in double figures. "They were hitting us in all kinds of angles, inside, outside, 50-50 balls, transition, getting to the line. They just kind of came down and did whatever it is they wanted and obviously, we struggled offensively. Credit to them. They jumped things up defensively, made passes hard for us, and it felt like we were kind of a little bit on our heels."

Minnesota is now two games behind New York for first place, securing a head-to-head tiebreaker if it came into the play. The Lynx previously denied the Liberty consecutive triumphs in the Commissioner's Cup Final in June but that game does not count toward the regular season standings.

Awaiting Minnesota's downfall has been an exercise in futility for its detractors: the Lynx haven't won a playoff round outside of a bubbled setting since their last WNBA Finals run in 2017 but have never truly bottomed out, as attached veterans have fostered and flourished under lasting head coach Cheryl Reeve.

Notre Dame alumna has been sustained by way more than just the luck of the Irish while Napheesa Collier figures to be a strong MVP runner-up to A'ja Wilson. Bridget Carleton and Alanna Smith have enjoyed breakouts on both sides of the ball while further tenured additions like Myisha Hines-Allen, Natisha Hiedeman, and Courtney Williams complete the deadly depth.

Liberty reps noted that all that and more has made them stray away from the brand of basketball that catapulted them to the top of the Association.

"I think what Minny does really well is they're a team that really kind of congests on the nail defensively," said Breanna Stewart, who posted 38 points and 18 rebounds in defeat. "They're always pre-rotated for the next pass and taking something away. Offensively, they move the ball, they'll wear you down for 22 seconds, and then they'll find the open person who will hit a last-second shot. I can't tell you how many times that happened tonight. They're just confident in their teammates."

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

"They move the ball very well," reserve Kayla Thornton added. "They make you move, they make you get out of position and I think we weren't really locked into that. We had moments where we showed it, but it wasn't a complete, full game."

In the face of it all, a recurring theme emerged from the somber aftermath: New York is more than willing to face Minnesota again despite the 1-3 blemish on their ledgers.

'We got smacked in the head. So how are we going to respond?" head coach Sandy Brondello said. "Hopefully we get another chance to play in the playoffs. But we weren't our best today. So let's learn and be ready for the next two games to finish the season, finish the game."

Both sides have work to do for that dreamy rematch to become a reality. With each squad having long secured a spot in the top three on the WNBA Playoff bracket, the earliest ... and latest ... they could meet would be the upcoming Finals.

That, of course, doesn't even account for the roadblocks on the way: assuming the the top two seeds handle their first-round foes, No. 1 is destined to face the winner of a showdown between the Seattle Storm and Wilson's defending champion Las Vegas Aces. The runner-up's reward for handling business is no less daunting, as the equally stacked Connecticut Sun or Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever potentially await.

Despite the loss and uncertainty, the Liberty sounded more than willing to accept the challenge of handling their end of the bargain and hoped Minnesota would do the same.

"I think it just has to deal with us," Thornton said. "I know we're way better than that, so like I said, we've got to go back to the drawing board of ourselves and then fix things."

The Liberty will have a chance to clinch the top seed again on Tuesday night when they face the Washington Mystics, a potential first-round adversary, on the road (7 p.m. ET, WWOR).

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