The Liberty play their last home game of the month against the new look Phoenix Mercury.
Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
A hard, but worthy battle! The Atlanta Dream gave the New York Liberty everything they could handle on Tuesday night, but the WNBA champions did just enough to come back from a 17 point deficit and come away with the W. The champs are now 10-1 on the season.
The opponent tonight is coming in straight off a close game last night. The Phoenix Mercury faced a tough challenge from the Connecticut Sun, but Phoenix did just enough to hang on and win. The Merc are 9-4 on the season.
Where to follow the game
FOX 5 on TV. Liberty Live and Fox Local on streaming for the locals. Amazon Prime for the out of towners. Tip after 7 PM.
Injuries
Leonie Fiebich is overseas at Eurobasket.
Megan McConnell is out. Sami Whitcomb didn’t play last night due to an ankle sprain. We’ll see if she plays tonight.
The game
Kahleah Copper recently returned from knee surgery, and she’s on a minutes restriction as she builds her stamina up. She played 22:07 last night and hit her only two shots of the game late in the fourth quarter as the Mercury fought to hang on to their lead. Even when she’s not at full strength, she still finds a way to make winning plays.
The Mercury will have their hands full with Sabrina Ionescu. Sab has been on fire in recent games and is making winning plays all over the court. She’s scored 30+ points in each of the past two games, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. She’s active on defense, always knows where she’s supposed to be, and is fearless every time the ball is in her hands on offense.
Watching Alyssa Thomas is always a blast. AT is a triple double threat every time she steps on the court and has a motor that is rivaled by only few players in basketball history. All of her scoring is from the free throw line and in, but when you can finish at the rim and power through opponents like she does, you’re living all right. She’ll see her former Sun teammate, Jonquel Jones. JJ returned from an ankle injury on Tuesday and had another double-double. She’s still working her way back to peak form after missing a week of action, so it’ll be interesting to see how she does in this matchup.
Similar to the Liberty, Phoenix places a great emphasis on shots inside the restricted area and three point attempts
Player to watch: Satou Sabally
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
The Unicorn! Since her arrival in the WNBA back in 2020, Satou has been one of the better forwards in the game. She’s made the All-Star team, been first team All-WNBA, won Most Improved Player, etc. She’s also one of the faces of Adidas’ women’s basketball roster and one of the more popular players around the globe. As she played well on the court, her teams weren’t having the success she wanted. That led to her asking out of the Dallas Wings and joining the Mercury in free agency. In her first season with Phoenix, she’s averaging career highs in points and free throw attempts. She gets her buckets in a variety of ways and is someone opponents have to keep a close eye on all over the court
As the Mercury try to win their first playoff game since Sandy Brondello coached them in 2021, Sabally will be critical to that goal.
Little sister Nyara got the start on Tuesday, so we’ll see what happens tonight. Nyara helped solve the Liberty’s rebounding woes and gave generally solid minutes while she was on the court. There will be moments where she gets matched up against big sister Satou, but Breanna Stewart will get the matchup for most of this one.
Stewie does everything on the court and is someone the Liberty count on to make big plays on both sides of the ball. Her lack of three point shooting has been a topic of concern for about a year now, but she made one in the fourth quarter as New York went on its run. It’s easy to lock in to that and worry about it in a playoff setting, but when you’re one of the best off-ball players in the sport along with having a motor that practically no one in NBA/WNBA history can match, you can live with a flaw like that. With this being the last Liberty home game until July, look for Stewart and the squad to have a little extra pep in their step as they look to head west on a high note.
From the Vault
It’s Juneteenth, and the Liberty will be doing Juneteenth themed programming at the Barclays tonight. With that in mind, let’s head to Sesame Street and learn some more about the holiday!
More reading: Desert Wave Media, GO PHNX, Swish Appeal, Breakaway, SB Nation, Women’s Basketball Roundup, The Strickland, The Local W, New York Daily News, No Cap Space, New York Post, The Athletic, NY Liberty Fan TV, Yahoo Sports, Gotta Get Up, Sports Illustrated, Fansided, Just Women’s Sports, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, CBS Sports, and The Next