NY Liberty vs. Seattle Storm preview: Back home for two
Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images
The Liberty are back from the West Coast, and host the Seattle Storm on West Indian Night! And just like that, we’re back! The New York Liberty have gotten some much needed rest and relaxation after beating the Seattle Storm in a late night affair last Friday. At 27-6, the Liberty enter September feeling good and have a chance to lock down homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
Tonight’s opponent has been trying to figure things out. The Storm have been working to figure things out and are hoping to have things in place before the playoffs begin in a few weeks. They took on the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville on Tuesday night and came away with an inspired 71-64 win.
Where to follow the game
FOX 5 for the locals, Prime Video for the rest of y’all. Tip after 7 PM.
Injuries
All clear for the Liberty.
All clear for the Storm as well.
The game
New York won games one and two. This is the last regular season meeting of the year.
For a while, we were focusing on the Storm possibly capturing the four seed and homecourt advantage in round one. However, they now have to fight to hang on to the five seed. The Indiana Fever have been on fire since the Olympics break and are a stones throw away from catching Seattle at five. Seattle punched their ticket to the playoffs, but where they land is anyone’s guess. It should make for an exciting final stretch of the regular season.
This might go down as the best picture taken in sports this year:
Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images
Just tremendous.
Speaking of Breanna Stewart, she’ll look to find more success against her former team. After a small dip coming out of the Olympics break, Stewart has shot at least 46 percent from the field in each of the past four games. What’s helped Stewart regain her rhythm is she’s catching the ball on the move on offense, finishing at the rim off of cuts, and generally not working in isolation all the time. The Liberty offense isn’t really built for one-on-one play, so when they’re able to move the ball and themselves, great things tend to happen.
Something to keep an eye on tonight is the battle on the glass. The Liberty demolished the Storm 45-17 on the glass last Friday. Having Mercedes Russell back for Seattle will go a long way in helping them on the glass. They’re going to need all the help they can get going up against Jonquel Jones and Nyara Sabally. JJ almost outrebounded the Storm by herself on Friday night and Sabally has played impressive ball since the break. New York has been the best rebounding team in the league after the break and if they’re able to overwhelm Seattle on the boards again, they’ll be able to control the pace and flow of this game.
Player to watch: Skylar Diggins-Smith
When you lay down a challenge, how you respond will shape everything out. You have to be accountable, ready for what’s coming next, and performing at your best to back up your words. Following a tough home loss to the Washington Mystics, Skylar Diggins-Smith went to the postgame podium and made it plain:
Many people asked, so here is Skylar Diggins-Smith during the Storm’s postgame press conference after losing to the Washington Mystics with subtitles. “I fucked it up at the end. As a vet, you can’t make that play. But it shouldn’t come down to that”Q: @WNBAStormChaser pic.twitter.com/jB2ySL4Jt9— Roberta Rodrigues (@robertawbb) August 27, 2024
How has SDS done since then? How about a smooth 19/3/6.3/1/1.5 on 51 percent shooting from the field and 88 percent from the free throw line. It’s been a tour de force, and this season in Seattle has been a learning experience for the former Olympics Gold Medalist, as she explained to Bella Munson of The Next:
“I’m a feeler, I’m a thinker, sometimes an overthinker. I allow myself to be in the moment, though. It’s no secret I wear my emotions on my sleeves, and I don’t really try to shy away from that, to be honest. I allow myself to feel how I feel in the moment. I know that people may see it as dramatic or anal or over the top, and I can admit sometimes I am those things, but it definitely stems from a place of passion, investment, competitive nature, all those things.
And then the nature of this league, you have another game you have to prepare for the very next day, and so just trying not to, I guess, learn the same lessons twice, you know? And just how I approach my mindset as a leader, trying to show more poise in that situation. So it is a balance of feeling it — I don’t want to feel that way. I’m not a loser. I don’t like losing. But I think [about] what can you gain from that and bring into the next game as a professional, and how do you lock into that mindset to prepare better for next time?”
For the Liberty, they have to go up against a fully engaged and locked in Diggins-Smith one more time. She burned them last Friday night as she was able to find driving lanes to get to the basket and finish at the rim.
We’ll see how the team adjusts the coverage to keep SDS out of the paint. Courtney Vandersloot will draw the initial matchup, and from there she’ll likely make way for Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. Bee has been coming off the bench since her return, and she’s gradually getting back to where she was before the knee surgery. Laney-Hamilton’s presence allows the Liberty to deploy all kinds of fun lineups and matchup with everyone in the league. Now that the Liberty are back at full strength, Sandy Brondello can start ironing out what a possible playoff rotation will look like.
From the Vault
We got some sad news last weekend as Fatman Scoop passed away at the age of 56. If you’re old enough, you remember Scoop from his days at HOT 97 here in New York before he blew up nationwide. Let’s pull up one of Scoop’s many jams
More reading: Circling Seattle Sports, Swish Appeal, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, The Strickland, The Local W, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic. Fansided, Just Women’s Sports, SI All Knicks, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, CBS Sports, and The Next
New York Liberty Game Notes - New York Liberty
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