NEW YORK — No eighth-seeded team in league history, thus far, has ever made the WNBA Finals. The New York Liberty are on a quest to become the first. It began when they finished head coach Chris DeMarco's first season with a 26-18 record, leaving them with the final playoff spot in the league's packed standings.
Injuries left DeMarco bereft of entire positional groups at points of the regular season, encumbering the coach's transition to the league — and delaying the 2024 WNBA Champions' return to top-level play.
Going into the postseason, DeMarco asserted that his Liberty would keep up their trend of being ready for big moments. The team's 91-75 win in Sunday's Game 1 over the first-seeded Minnesota Lynx was an impressive first step. New York looked like a contender; the high stakes brought the best out of a core that knows a second-straight first-round exit isn't sustainable.
At the end of the regular season, Sabrina Ionescu said the Liberty can prove their struggles were necessary. The guard highlighted a need to learn from them: how they've lost, what hasn't worked, what has worked, what they can control, and more.
Article Continues Below“It's what sport is. It's not gonna be- everything smooth sailing, there's no obstacles,” Ionescu told reporters after the team's pair of losses to the Atlanta Dream. “It's what can make or break you. For us, it hasn't broke us. We've continued to show up every day. We've continued to try, and fight, and be the best versions of ourselves, no matter what, no matter the circumstances. I think it'd be a hell of a story if we were able to come out of this on top because of what we went through in the regular season.”
The Liberty are one-for-one, so far, in terms of realizing that story. On Tuesday, they'll have a chance at home to pen a decisive next chapter by closing the Lynx out. They'll be in good shape if Breanna Stewart — who logged 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists in Game 1 — continues to be herself, and if their defense maintains its persistence.
If New York continues to share the ball, push it in transition, and make life difficult on the other end of the court for rookie guard Olivia Miles, they have a real chance of winning this series. If they can get a second win in Brooklyn on Tuesday, and prevent a Game 3 back in Minnesota, they'll already have improved on last season's result. And they'll be one series into making history.
It isn't good business, however, to put carts before horses.