The New York Liberty are going to the WNBA playoffs.
But they aren’t playing like a team that figures to last long in the postseason.
They will be looking for improvement beginning with a home game against the Chicago Sky on Saturday afternoon.
The Liberty (23-16) have split their past six games and enter Saturday tied by record with the Dallas Wings for the last seed in the playoffs. The Wings, however, sit in seventh and the Liberty in last place, based on the tiebreaker rules.
“I feel like today was a bit of a step backwards,” guard Rebecca Allen said after a 79-60 home loss against the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night. “I just don’t think that we should ever lose like that on home court.”
New York had its lowest point total of the season after shooting a season-low 30.2% from the floor. The Liberty made just 7-of-31 3-pointers.
“Progress isn’t linear,” guard Rebekah Gardner said. “It can sometimes go up and down. … We definitely need to sit and watch this film. It’s good that this happened before the playoffs so we can learn from it. If we learn from it we’ll be better moving forward.”
The Sky (15-24) won’t be moving on to the playoffs. They have lost their past two games, most recently an 87-81 road defeat to the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, but they had won three in a row before the losses.
“A lot of teams in this league — us included — I don’t think our records are indicative (of their ability),” Chicago head coach Tyler Marsh said.
The Sky have been hampered by injuries. Natasha Cloud (right knee) and DiJonai Carrington (foot) played just 16 and four minutes, respectively, against the Sun as both sat out the second half as “a precaution,” Marsh said. Sydney Taylor also has been on a minutes restriction since returning from a groin injury.
“It’s tough to get a rhythm when you go on longer stretches of sitting than normal,” Marsh said. “It’s tough to manage that from a coaching standpoint and it sure is tough to manage from a playing standpoint.”
It’s uncertain how much Cloud, Carrington and Taylor will be able to play Saturday when the season series concludes. New York has won two of the first three meetings.
–Field Level Media
