The New York Liberty are preparing for a significant challenge against the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday, a matchup that could serve as a preview of a potential first-round playoff series. For Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, the game represents an opportunity to finally face the Valkyries at full strength, having missed their first encounter on May 21 due to injury and not feeling fully recovered for their second meeting on June 28.
"It's exciting to kind of be able to match up against a team that I haven’t really played a lot this year," Ionescu said. "And it’ll be fun to just go out there and really test our offense."
Golden State's defense has been the primary reason for their success against New York this season. In their two previous meetings, the Valkyries held the Liberty to their lowest scoring outputs of the year, 70 and 67 points, respectively. This defensive prowess is a testament to coach Natalie Nakase and her staff, who have instilled a strong understanding of defensive principles and collective effort in their players. Key contributors to this stifling defense include Gabby Williams and Veronica Burton, both recognized as All-Defensive team candidates, and Kiah Stokes, who leads the league in blocks and anchors the paint.
The Valkyries' ability to force opponents into difficult possessions makes them the only team this season to allow opponents to average fewer than 80 points per game. Leonie Fiebich noted the team's cohesive defensive strategy, stating, "From what I see is they just help each other. They’re in a shell, they’re constantly helping each other out, rotating. They’re a good rebounding team — that helps, too."
This defensive focus was evident in their recent win against the Lynx, where they limited high-scoring players Olivia Miles, Napheesa Collier, and Kayla McBride to a combined 29 points. Liberty coach Chris DeMarco believes his team can learn from that game, emphasizing the need for "just execution" and "understanding where we want our shots to come from" while playing with pace.
To counter the Valkyries' defensive pressure, which aims to slow the game down and impose physicality, the Liberty plan to stick to their offensive style. This involves constant ball movement, prioritizing three-point shots, and pushing the pace in transition. "They play really solid, good team defense," Ionescu said. "We’re a lot bigger, and so I think it’s just making sure we’re using the right mismatches and continuing to dictate on offense and not let their defense dictate what we want to do."
Ionescu expressed confidence in the team's ability to meet the challenge, seeing the game as a crucial test late in the season. "It’ll be a really good test for us, especially toward the end of the season at seeing where we’re at, what we need to improve on, what we need to work on, but also knowing our strengths and what we do offensively and really trusting in that," she said. "Not letting their defense … make us tentative or soft. We know we can match up really well against them and get to our spots, face the floor, really use … mismatches in the post to our advantage."