Mercury host New York Liberty to open WNBA playoffs

Phoenix Preview

The Mercury ended the season with a 27-17 record, their second-most wins in a single season since 2014, when they won 29 games. Phoenix secured the No. 4 seed and will have home-court advantage to begin the series. The team enters Sunday’s matchup on a three-game losing streak, with its most recent loss coming against the Dallas Wings on Sept. 11.

Head coach Nate Tibbetts expressed the importance of keeping all of his players healthy before the playoffs, even if that meant limiting their minutes towards the end of the season.

“Collectively, the front office [and] coaches, there was a decision to be made,” he said, according to Desert Wave Media. “Do you try to see the big picture and rest and play less minutes? Or, do you need to keep playing? We decided to rest some people and play them less minutes. I guess you never really know for sure what the right answer is until Sunday comes.”

New York Preview

The Liberty also finished the season with a 27-17 record, securing the No. 5 seed as the Mercury held the tiebreaker between the two teams during the regular season. New York comes to Phoenix on a three-game win streak, defeating the Chicago Sky on Sept. 11 in its final game of the season.

The reigning WNBA Champions have had their fair share of struggles this season, with key players out with injuries and missing over 10 games. Now that everyone is healthy, New York hopes to put those struggles behind them as they chase a second consecutive championship.

“All the things you could imagine had happened to this team,” Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said, according to ESPN’s Michael Voepel. “But we don’t want our run to be easy, we just want it to be really, really worth it. I think we’re embracing the hard and showing up every day ready for whatever challenge we’re going to have, and whoever we’re going to have with us.”

This series will feature two teams that followed similar paths this season, overcoming injuries and looking to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Phoenix Mercury and the New York Liberty play Game 1 on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 2 p.m.