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New York Liberty Stay Close to Lynx in WNBA Power Rankings

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Joe Rutland | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 12:08 AM ET

With the New York Liberty battling the Minnesota Lynx in an WNBA Finals replay on Wednesday night, it's pitting the top two teams in the league against one another. It also might be filled with highlight-reel plays from Liberty stars like Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones.

In the latest WNBA Power Rankings from WNBA.com, the Liberty are firmly in the No. 2 spot. Guess who's No. 1? None other than the Lynx, who are backed by WNBA MVP favorite Napheesa Collier.

But this article is about the Liberty. Jones, the reigning WNBA Finals MVP, has returned from being out for a month with an ankle injury. During the All-Star break, Ionescu won the 3-Point Contest and Natasha Cloud captured the Kia Skills crown.

The Eastern Conference Player of the Week has entered the chat

After putting up 24.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 7.7 APG last week, Sabrina Ionescu is lookin’ to keep it rolling against the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx.

A 2024 Finals rematch tips at 8pm/ET on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/XIULpA0ZKD
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 30, 2025

The Liberty, 17-8 for the season, entered Wednesday night's clash with Minnesota coming off a 92-82 loss on the road to the Dallas Wings. Jones had 18 points and Ionescu, who was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, added 17 in the defeat. Breanna Stewart was out with a leg injury she suffered in Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.

New York Liberty push through four-game stretch at this time, including WNBA Finals rematch against Minnesota Lynx

New York is in the midst of a four-game stretch that included Wednesday's WNBA Finals rematch.

For the Liberty to get back in the win column, head coach Sandy Brondello will have to come up with some matchups that are beneficial to the team. Without Stewart, though, Brondello will have to make critical decisions.

Tests, though, showed that Stewart's injury was not too serious. Still, she was out on Tuesday night. When talking about her situation last Friday, Stewart didn't seem too worried about it at all.

“I don’t want to give an excuse of being fatigued because we did have two days off,” Stewart said Friday, according to The Athletic. “I just gotta get my legs back underneath me. I don’t know how I do that with a back-to-back tomorrow, but I’ll figure it out.”

Time will tell if Stewart gets back into the Liberty lineup soon.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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