The Liberty close out their four game road trip with a showdown against the Atlanta Dream
Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images
Couldn’t keep up. The New York Liberty continued their road trip on Friday night with a showdown against the red hot Phoenix Mercury. Unfortunately for New York, the heat was on as the Merc made 18 three pointers in route to a comfortable win. The Liberty have one more day on the road before they can return home and relax in their own beds for a while.
The opponent tonight has been one of the most pleasant surprises of 2025. The Atlanta Dream went toe to toe with the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night but fell short in overtime.
Where to follow the game
My9 on TV. Liberty Live and FOX Local on streaming. WNBA League Pass for the out of towners. Party gets started after 3 PM.
Injuries
No Jonquel Jones or Leonie Fiebich.
Nothing doing for Atlanta.
The game
New York won the first matchup.
In postgame on Friday night, Natasha Cloud mentioned that the effort and energy from the team has to be a lot more consistent and not just in spurts. The team never got out the starting blocks in Phoenix and were fighting uphill. When you’re shorthanded, you can’t afford to start slowly and fall behind against good teams. With this being the last game of the road trip, look for the Liberty to have some extra pep in their step.
That’ll start with Cloud. The shooting hasn’t been there recently, but the drives to the rim have been and that can unlock something good for the Liberty.
Breanna Stewart does just about everything for the Liberty, and we’ll see how Sandy Brondello deploys her against the Dream’s dynamic duo. Rhyne Howard had one of her worst shooting games of the season as Stewie and the Liberty defenders made things hard on her. Quiet as its kept, Howard’s shooting numbers are surprisingly terrible, but she does everything else well on the court so she’ll make an impact regardless.
The Dream’s MVP has been Allisha Gray in 2025. Gray has done it all for Atlanta and is the player that has taken new coach Karl Smesko’s vision and made it a reality. She’s at career highs across the board and is their most reliable player. To counteract that, the Liberty are going to need a better outing from Sabrina Ionescu. Sab isn’t at full strength, but she’s trying to tough it out as best as she can. The passing is still there at the very least and that will help keep the offense going. Once this wraps, she and the team will come home for some much needed rest and relaxation.
Player to watch: Brittney Griner
BG was one of Atlanta’s big off-season pickups, and so far the fit has been hit or miss. Her numbers are at career lows across the board in minutes, field goal attempts, rebounds, field goal percentage, etc. Griner is in a new team with a new system so a slow start isn’t the worst thing in the world. She made a living in the paint against the Lynx on Friday night and paint points will be absolutely critical in a matchup like this.
In a matchup like this, the loss of Jonquel Jones will be felt even more. JJ is perhaps the only big that can match up with BG on the inside and match her physicality. Nyara Sabally will be given this assignment and she had a heck of a game on Friday. She scored 16 points on 6-7 shooting and will need to replicate that today. She’s a solid roller to the rim and that forces defenses to collapse in on her, which can lead to corner threes if the offense is in sync.
From the Vault
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