Playoff seeding on the line for league-leading Liberty, second-place Lynx

Field Level Media|published: Sat 14th September, 16:57 2024

WNBA: New York Liberty at Los Angeles Sparks

Aug 28, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot (22), forward Kayla Thornton (5), forward Nyara Sabally (8), forward Breanna Stewart (30) and guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) react against the LA Sparks in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The New York Liberty can lock up the top seed in the WNBA playoffs on Sunday afternoon when they host the Minnesota Lynx.

The Liberty (31-6) have a three-game lead on the Lynx (28-9) for the top seed with three games remaining in the WNBA regular season. The Lynx have a one-game lead on the Connecticut Sun for the No. 2 seed.

Minnesota is one of the few WNBA teams to give the Liberty trouble this season. Minnesota handed the Liberty their worst loss of the season, 84-67, on May 25. The Lynx also beat the Liberty 94-89 on June 25 for the Commissioners Cup title, though the Commissioners Cup final doesn't count in the regular-season standings.

A win by the Lynx would give them the most wins in one season in franchise history dating back to 1999.

"Hopefully, we will get that," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said with a smile after Friday night's 83-66 win over the Chicago Sky. "We're playing more games (now), but that's still great. There's a lot of people who didn't have us being able to win that many games coming into the season. Not that that matters, but I think what is special is winning that many games.

"We're hard to play against. We win at home. A lot of great things have come from the season so far."

Minnesota has won 12 of its last 13 games. Lynx All-Star forward Napheesa Collier is fourth in the WNBA with 20.3 points per game. The Lynx lead the WNBA in assists (23.3 per game), three-point shooting percentage (37.9) and are the best defensive team in the WNBA, allowing opponents to shoot 40.9 percent from the floor.

New York has won five in a row after crushing the Dallas Wings 99-67 on Thursday night. They are led by their Big Three of Breanna Stewart (20.2 points per game), Sabrina Ionescu (19.1) and Jonquel Jones (14.6).

"It's just being locked in," Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. "We want to keep that No. 1 seed, and it's about playing the right way when the game really matters."

Brondello spent Friday night in Phoenix at the Mercury's 10th anniversary celebration of their WNBA title in 2014. She was the head coach of the Mercury that year.

--Field Level Media

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