Since ending a four-game losing streak on July 20 with a win over the Dallas Wings, the New York Liberty have won seven of their last eight games, including four in a row.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re now seven games over .500 and in seventh place in the standings, with a chance to quickly vault higher, especially if they earn a win in Indianapolis on Tuesday evening against the Indiana Fever, a team that\u2019s in fourth place with a 20-12 record (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).<\/p>\n
So, is New York back? Back as a team no opponent wants to see on the schedule, especially in a playoff series? Back to being considered a legitimate championship contender?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not quite ready to confidently endorse New York.<\/p>\n
The Dallas win was their only win over a playoff team during this eight-game stretch, as Sunday afternoon\u2019s victory over a Las Vegas Aces team without A\u2019ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray or Jackie Young does not count.<\/p>\n
Considering the favorability of their schedule, New York\u2019s metrics should probably be stronger.<\/p>\n
Excluding Sunday\u2019s 40-point demolition of the depleted Aces, which could skew the stats in an unrepresentative manner, New York has a 3.6 net rating since July 20, which is just the sixth-best mark in the league since that date. A 118.4 offensive rating slots them as fourth-best offensive in the league over that span, while a 114.8 defensive rating ranks 12th.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a better offense but worse defense than New York\u2019s season-long stats of a 112.1, and fourth-ranked, offensive rating and a 107.4, and 10th-ranked, defensive rating.<\/p>\n
Their record is quantitively better, but, according to the underlying statistics, New York is not qualitatively better.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re still a team that tends to be too dependent on their offensive talents authoring excellent performances to pull out wins. The Liberty have enough offensive talent where that can happen more often than not, whether its Marine Johann\u00e8s netting a career-high 27 points from off the bench, boosted by seven 3s, as she did on Sunday or Han Xu swishing pull-up jumpers or Sabrina Ionescu coming through in the clutch or Breanna Stewart working her way to the line for extra points or Jonquel Jones remembering that she is the Bahamian Beast.<\/p>\n
When she returns from her foot injury, Leonie Fiebich will give New York another shooter, and if Satou Sabally is able to play again this season after dealing with another long-term concussion, she\u2019ll introduce an even more dangerous offensive element into the New York lineup.<\/p>\n
All that firepower, however, feels fragile, with the lack of cohesion, combined with the defensive questions, requiring New York, when things get particularly sticky, to turn to the \u201cStewie save us\u201d strategy. She can do it, but that\u2019s not a sustainable path for a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n
Over their final 11 games of the 2026 season, the Liberty have the opportunity to demonstrate otherwise, showing an offensive resiliency, with enough defensive connectivity, to make a championship chase believable.<\/p>\n