They handed out hats and t-shirts, hoisted the Commissioner’s Cup trophy for all of Barclays Center to see and posed together as the only two-time champions of the WNBA’s in-season tournament.
And to think, none of it counted toward the New York Liberty’s ultimate quest this season: capturing their second league title in three years.
“Obviously, we have bigger goals this season,” Liberty coach Chris DeMarco insisted after New York’s 93-85 win over Las Vegas on Tuesday night. “
“We want to win a WNBA championship.”
While outlasting the Aces may have put more hardware in the Liberty’s trophy case, the game itself didn’t count in the standings.
New York returns to the reality of the regular season on Friday night, when it hosts the league-leading Minnesota Lynx (15-4), who boast a 9-1 road mark and have only lost twice since the middle of May.
The Liberty (12-8) had dropped four of their previous five before Tuesday’s stirring triumph, and were coming off a 1-3 road trip that saw them drop the final two lengths of their West Coast sojourn.
“I think it kind of sets the foundation for who we are,” Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu noted after pouring in a team-high 26 points against the Aces, including the dagger 3-pointer in the final seconds.
“And how we want to compete every single night.”
New York did run off a season-high eight wins in a row before its recent malaise, finishing off a perfect run through the Commissioner’s Cup slate before a disappointing home loss to Washington and a heartbreaking defeat at the buzzer in Los Angeles.
The Liberty rebounded to take out the Aces in Vegas last week before Seattle and Golden State beat them soundly.
Outlasting the owners of three of the last four WNBA titles should hearten DeMarco’s star-studded unit, but the Lynx have been off since Sunday after cruising past Dallas 85-77.
And they’ve risen to the top of the standings without their best player, superstar forward Napheesa Collier.
She nearly helped the Lynx spoil the Liberty’s 2024 championship run before New York’s decisive Game 5 overtime win at Barclays in the Finals.
The five-time All-Star hasn’t logged a single minute this year after undergoing sugaries on both ankles.
She did return to practice this week and could soon rejoin a team that is flourishing behind rookie sensation Olivia Miles and former New York forward Natasha Howard.
The Liberty will have to deal with veteran forward Natasha Howard and rookie guard Olivia Miles in Brooklyn on Friday. Photo: Abbie Parr/AP
But it won’t be Friday night in Brooklyn, where the Liberty also averted going against three-time MVP A’ja Wilson in the Cup final due to a bad ankle.
Howard and Miles both put up 21 points in Dallas. Howard also hauled down 14 rebounds while the No. 2 overall pick out of Texas Christian handed out eight assists.
Minnesota will also be chasing history for coach Cheryl Reeve, who tied Mike Thibault for first place on the league’s all-time coaching wins list in Dallas at 379.
All the Liberty want is a chance to re-establish themselves as the team Vegas oddsmakers picked to be the team to beat in the WNBA this year.
Despite her team’s roller-coaster ride thus far, Commissioner’s Cup MVP Breanna Stewart believes New York is ready for the challenge of the rest of the regular-season schedule.
“This is my 10th year in the league, so I’ve been through a lot,” she said. “This team is willing to work. … This is a great moment for us to continue to celebrate. We get one day off and we’ll be back to work.”
Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
The game will air exclusively on ION TV.
Now that celebrating their second Cup crown is over, the Liberty will try to snap a two-game regular-season skid vs. Minnesota on Friday. Photo: Brandon Todd/New York Liberty
GIVE ME LIBERTY: The 34-year-old Howard played two seasons with the Liberty from 2021-22, their first two campaigns in Brooklyn. With Collier out, she is averaging 17.6 points and a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game this year. … Stewart became the first two-time MVP in Cup history and is the only player to win three titles since the in-season tourney began in 2021, when she was with Seattle. … After hosting the Lynx, the Liberty will close out this homestand Tuesday night vs. Dallas before embarking on a four-game road trip, which tips off with a visit to Minnesota on July 11.