Barclays Center–In what could be a preview of the WNBA Finals, the New York Liberty faltered early and never recovered, losing 88-79 to the visiting Minnesota Lynx at Barclays Center.
The defeat snapped the Liberty’s five-game winning streak and handed Minnesota the season series, 3-1. It also squandered a stellar performance by forward Breanna Stewart and delayed New York’s chance to clinch the top seed in the playoffs, as the Lynx remain in contention.
The Liberty (31-7) now hold a slimmer 2.5-game lead over the Western Conference-leading Lynx for the No. 1 overall seed. If the Libs loses its remaining games and Minnesota (29-9) continues its six-game winning streak, the Liberty could drop to the second seed.
“Yeah, I think it’s a really good team, well-coached. They’ve played extremely well. It’s a team that we may meet down the stretch, so we want to play well,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said before the game. “We want to win this game and clinch the No. 1 seed, and go into the playoffs playing good basketball. It’s a good challenge for us.”
In their previous matchup on May 25, the Liberty suffered their worst loss of the season to Minnesota, 84-67. Sunday’s game followed a similar pattern, as New York fell behind by as many as 25 points in the third quarter, making Stewart’s late-game heroics insufficient.
Stewart finished with 38 points and 18 boards, with 17 of those points coming in the fourth quarter. However, the Liberty were down by 24 entering the final period, and her efforts couldn’t close the gap for the Libs.
“We should treat this like a playoff game,” Brondello said before the matchup. “We should compete for 40 minutes like it’s the playoffs. One win clinches the top seed, and that’s our goal. But playing good basketball when it really matters is what’s most important.”
The Liberty got off to a slow start, trailing 16-6 early on and never truly threatening the Lynx the rest of the way. By halftime, they were down 52-39, and their struggles continued as they failed to generate offensive momentum.
Minnesota expanded its lead to 25-11 early in the game, and New York never found an answer. The Lynx built a commanding 35-18 lead just over a minute into the second quarter, with Bridget Carleton (team-high 19 points) hitting a wide-open three-pointer after a defensive scramble. Napheesa Collier chipped in 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Lynx, who need to win their final two games and hope the Liberty lose both in order to secure the top seed.
The Lynx shot 53% from the field and 50% from downtown.
With this win, Minnesota also strengthened its hold on the No. 2 seed over the Connecticut Sun.
