PHOENIX — No more excuses.
No more wishful thinking.
No more talking about how things will get better once the Liberty get fully healthy again.
Breanna Stewart has had enough.
The tipping point happened late Saturday night when the Liberty dropped a critical game to the Mercury.
Not only did New York’s defeat delay the defending champions from officially clinching a playoff spot, but it also gave Phoenix the head-to-head tiebreaker and potentially home-court advantage in the first round.
The Liberty entered this game talking about how they should have a playoff mentality. But the Mercury’s dogged defense crippled New York. The Liberty committed 19 turnovers, which the Mercury converted into 26 points. Phoenix also scored 13 points off nine offensive boards, and New York was outscored 43-24 over the last two quarters.
Breanna Stewart dribbles during the Liberty-Mercury game on Aug. 30, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images
It’s time Sandy Brondello’s squad finally faces the music, and Stewart finally said what needed to be said.
“It’s not good enough,” Stewart said. “It’s not going to cut it – any of the things that we’ve done today and honestly for a while. It’s not going to get us where we want to be. This is not championship-level basketball at this point, and everybody needs to recognize that and understand that. We need to get there and that starts with the mindset and then putting it onto the court.”
Stewart said there’s “never panic.” But she stressed the urgency has to be there.
“With this team, I believe we can do anything that we put our minds to,” Stewart said. “We just want the game to feel better. We want to play better. We want to be peaking and today wasn’t a good showing of that.”
The Liberty had the hottest start in franchise history this season, winning nine straight out of the gates.
But injuries to Jonquel Jones and Stewart complicated things.
The team hasn’t had a clean bill of health since the second game of the season. Saturday was its 16th starting lineup this season.
The Liberty’s big three has played only 13 games together and shared the floor for 204 minutes.
That discontinuity in lineups has complicated this season for the Liberty. And as the reigning champions, they deserve some benefit of the doubt.
But they’ve gone 15-16 over the past 2 ½ months.
Liberty players look on during their loss to the Mercury on Aug. 30, 2025. Getty Images
Opponents capitalize off the Liberty’s careless, sloppy turnovers. They also exploit New York’s rebounding woes and lack of defensive chemistry.
Stewart’s message was loud and clear Saturday night with only four games left in the regular season.
It’s not good enough.
At some point, the lessons have to actually be learned and put into practice. At some point, New York has to find a way to play consistent and a complete 40-minute game.
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If not, the Liberty’s wish of winning back-to-back titles will be only a fantasy.
“This is obviously a learning opportunity,” Stewart said after the Liberty’s latest mistake. “But we’re kind of running out of opportunities for growth at this point. We need to just actually be better.”
New York has only four games left and Brondello admitted, “We’re not where we need to be.
“But that’s it,” she said. “We just got to hang in there and work this s– out. And we know what we’re capable of, and that’s what we have to focus on.”
Will the Liberty figure things out? Or will this version of New York be remembered as the team who let a championship opportunity slip away?
We’ll have an answer before Halloween.