Liberty Facing Rigorous Regular Season Finale as Playoff Picture Sharpens
With four games in six days, New York's Breanna Stewart's minutes are under scrutiny as the team pushes for playoff positioning.
The New York Liberty are navigating a demanding final stretch of their regular season, facing a condensed schedule of four games in six days, including three matchups against playoff-bound opponents. This challenging slate comes as the team seeks to solidify its playoff seeding.
Breanna Stewart's playing time is a key point of focus for the Liberty in these crucial final games. At 32 years old, Stewart ranks sixth in the league for minutes played this season, having appeared in all but one game. Her significant contribution was also evident during the FIBA Women's World Cup earlier this month, where she led Team USA in playing time, averaging 23.1 minutes per game over six contests.
Stewart demonstrated her immediate impact upon returning to the Liberty, logging 38 minutes and recording a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 93-81 victory over the league-leading Minnesota Lynx. This performance underscored her readiness despite the demanding schedule.
The Liberty's schedule continues with a Sunday road game against the Toronto Tempo, followed by a return home for a two-game series against the Atlanta Dream. The intensity of these upcoming games leaves little room for rest for the team.
Guard Sabrina Ionescu acknowledged the team's successful transition back into the season following the international break. "The way we just played together hard, locked in for 40 minutes and weathered their runs and I’m really proud of the group," Ionescu stated. "Obviously we had a lot of players that weren’t here and it’s hard. Everyone’s traveled from across the world playing in really high-intensity games, but to be able to come in and be pros and put this game at the forefront of what we’re doing is super important to us."
The team aims to build on the momentum from their win against Minnesota. However, Sunday's game against Toronto, who has lost five consecutive games and is missing key players Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes, presents a potential trap game scenario. The Liberty are emphasizing the need to maintain their focus and intensity.
Securing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs remains a possibility for the Liberty, contingent on them winning their remaining games and other results falling in their favor. A scenario where Dallas, New York, Washington, Atlanta, and Indiana all finish with identical 28-14 records would place the Liberty in the No. 4 seed.
In addition to her on-court performance, Stewart reached a career milestone during Friday's game, surpassing Sue Bird to move into ninth place on the league's all-time scoring list. Stewart quipped, "I gotta pass Sue Bird in something, because I’m definitely not passing in assists." She has accumulated 6,806 points in 332 games and is nearing Cappie Pondexter on the scoring list. Bird holds the all-time assist record with 3,234, while Stewart has recorded 1,056 assists over her 10-season career.