NEW YORK — Ahead of his first playoff series as a WNBA head coach, Chris DeMarco guaranteed his New York Liberty would be ready to go against the Minnesota Lynx. The group followed the bold claim up by making history, becoming the first No. 8 seed in WNBA postseason history to upset a No. 1 seed.
New York's 2-0 sweep of Minnesota was decisive. A cohesive effort from their guard and wing defenders neutralized rookie star Olivia Miles, who made just four of her 20 shot attempts in 47 total minutes of playing time. Star center Jonquel Jones told reporters after the game that the wins, particularly Tuesday night's close-out victory, were a result of the Liberty's growth over the course of a tumultuous regular season.
“We, as a team, just really did have a moment like, ‘look, this is where we are. Yes, we're supposed to be this, and we have high expectations for ourselves. We know, individually, we're great players. But as a team, and as a collective, we have a lot of things to figure out,'” Jones said.
Asked about that team turning point potentially having come in early August, after the WNBA All-Star break, Jones admitted she didn't quite remember. She did, however, credit the Liberty's approach to their shortcomings — even if it took them some time to adopt it.
“I do think once you really start to embrace that, you can start really trying to figure out ways to be successful, and ways to make it right,” Jones told reporters. “I think tonight was a combination of us figuring that out, and everybody having the mindset to really just want to work on it, and want to be better for the team. Everybody just really wanted to work.”
New York's fight against Minnesota was persistent. Throughout her postgame comments, however, Jones' fight against a prideful smile was not.
Breanna Stewart believes the All-Star break was the Liberty's turning point
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Three-time WNBA Champion and two-time MVP, Breanna Stewart, remains the Liberty's leader both on and off the court. Her ailing left knee didn't stop her from playing all but two minutes of the Minnesota series. That included every second of the Liberty's closeout win that made league history. She agreed with Jones' sentiment that, ever since that pivotal midseason inflection point, the Liberty have had an improved mentality. Stewart told reporters, bluntly, at the Barclays Center that it came sometime around the WNBA All-Star Break.
“People [were] saying we're supposed to be contending for a championship, and this, and we're sucking. There always comes a moment in the season where it's like, be who you are,” Stewart said. “We are an eight seed, even though we don't feel like it. We need to be that. And we have to have that chip on our shoulder, but change the chip. The chip of wanting to win a championship changes… people think that they're gonna be able to just do whatever they want to us… having that mindset, and mentality is great going forward.”
That next step for the Liberty begins on Sunday, when they take on the Atlanta Dream in their second-round series. Atlanta, like New York, is led by a triumvirate of star players. And while Stewart and Jones are the perfect frontcourt players to challenge Angel Reese — this season's Defensive Player of the Year — scorers like Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard will give the Liberty trouble, too.
DeMarco's group, however, is ready for the challenge. Jones felt Tuesday night's closeout victory was a decisive piece of evidence in that regard.
“Every team we play against is super talented, and they're going to be able to make runs,” Jones said. “It's about how we respond to those runs. I think tonight really showed that we have been taking those steps in the right direction. It's good for those things to materialize in a game that matters so much.”