What Does Liberty Peak Look Like?

The New York Liberty are using the rest of the WNBA regular season to properly prepare their view from the top.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

Wake the New York Liberty up when September ... begins.

For a city whose citizens and visitors alike seek to become "king of the hill, top of the heap," properly respecting and valuing such ground could be the ultimate x-factor between making a brand new start of it and vagabond shoes longing to stray.

With the potential fulfillment of championship aspirations so close, New York has made a goal of "peaking at the right time" a de facto mantra for their redemptive quest. Prior to Friday's game against the Seattle Storm, head coach Sandy Brondello detailed exactly what such a concept looks like through seafoam-colored glasses.

"In the end, it's a mindset, it's a mentality for us,' Brondello said. "We've got the best record in the league because we played in the right way ... just maintaining that mental focus and the urgency that we need, I think that's important for us as we move forward."

New York (27-6) is currently engaged in women's basketball's ultimate first-world problem: the top seed on the WNBA playoff bracket has been long-coated in seafoam, as the Liberty have firmly held the spot since late spring. With seven games left on their 2024 regular season docket, the Liberty hold a 3.5-game lead on both the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx with September looming.

The only lap that matters, of course, is the final, and some would say that the Brooklyn engine began to sputter this week. After soaring through their first four games of the post-Olympic/All-Star slate (winning their first quartet by an average of over 18 points, the Liberty dropped two of their next three.

The first, a sluggish 72-64 defeat to Connecticut last weekend might've been understandable if not for the Wednesday follow-up, which saw the Libery drop a 94-88 decision to the cellar-dwelling Los Angeles Sparks. Turnovers have been particularly prevalent, as New York lost nine in the opening SoCal period alone (en route to 19 total).

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

Yet, Brondello's faith in her New Yorkers is unwavering, as she explained that a "right" brand of basketbal has propelled them to the top.

"We've just got to keep building, and we've got to make sure we continue to keep playing in the right way and we will," Brondello said. "I have a lot of faith in this team."

Such conviction was vindicated in Friday's win, a 98-85 triumph that saw New York stave off a challenge from a Storm group seeking first-round homecourt advantage. Brondello's desire of "the right way" has been fulfilled with new heroines rising on different nights.

The latest, most consistent appears to be Nyara Sabally, who became the first to have a double-double off the New York bench since 2020 on Wednesday. Sabally probably could've duplicated the feat on Friday but nonetheless earned eight rebounds and seven points in a reduced but valued role (14 minutes).

Elsewhere, All-Stars Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton have worked their way back from injuries, as have Sabally and Leonie Fiebich, both of whom were banged up during Germany's inaugural Olympic run.

The usual suspects continue to rise, albeit in different ways: Breanna Stewart has rediscovered her scoring prowess while Courtney Vandersloot has been one of the top rebounding guards in the W since the second half tipped off. Jonquel Jones overcame an illness to pull in 11 rebounds in 20 minutes in Seattle after missing Wednesday's upset.

Part of the making things right after last year's title pursuit fell short could be fulfilled by taking homecourt advantage throughout the WNBA Playoffs: last yea,r, the Liberty landed the No. 2 seed but were forced to begin the Finals against the Las Vegas Aces in Sin City, forcing them to deal with a 2-0 series deficit in the best-of-five set before anyone touched down in Brooklyn.

As it stands, New York's magic number to clinch the top seed stands at five entering Sunday action. The Liberty can continuing shrinking it on Thursday when Seattle comes to Brooklyn for a rematch (7 p.m. ET, WNYW/Amazon Prime Video).

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