Why Liberty Still Stand as Scary Playoff Foe

"When they have played, we're 11-0, I think, in their starts," Brondello said before the Liberty faced the Seattle Storm on Friday night. "We haven't seen a lot of it. That's the only downside of it, this year. I think the last time we saw it was just straight off the All-Star break before Stewie went down."

That's certainly placing a sizable burden on the trio's backs but Ionescu, Jones, and Stewart certainly have the stats to vindicate the faith: among three-woman combos in the WNBA this season, the trio is seventh in net rating (20.7) and tied for first in true shooting percentage (62.2).

In the most important, if not basic, metric, New York is indeed undefeated when the three start and finish a game together this season, though that hasn't been staged since Aug. 25's win over Connecticut since Ionescu has missed five of the last six games with foot issues. The Liberty hopes to get Ionescu on the floor for at least a few minutes over the final two games of the regular season, starting with Tuesday's visit from the Washington Mystics (7 p.m. ET, Fox 5).

Last year, the Liberty banked on a year of chemistry and icebreakers serving as the difference on a championship run and were vindicated with a 40-win trek that ended with a five-game triumph over the Minnesota Lynx. Brondello believes that what was developed last season, as well as what been on display in these fleeting glimpses, not only speaks for itself but meshes well with new starters Natasha Cloud and Leonie Fiebich.

"Their chemistry from last year, you see, when they're on the court together, they've had time together to build up that camaraderie and the chemistry, how to play with each other, and I think we've got really good people around them," Brondello reasoned. "I think it puts Tash in a different (role), she doesn't have to have the ball in her hands all the time. I think Leo can go back and be in a really good spacer when you're getting a really elite playmaker back. We're going to we're confident in that. Does it mean it will it be easy? No, but you have to believe it's possible."

The Liberty's recent road trip, while dreary after some no-show efforts in Phoenix and San Francisco, gave Stewart a chance to showcase her leadership efforts in times of distress.

The three-time champion personally challenged the group to buckle down and play to a closer level of victorious basketball after getting beat by 19 in the second half against the Mercury in a potential first-round playoff preview in the desert. Less than 72 hours later, a scary second period primarily prevented the Liberty from sweeping the expansion, playoff-bound Golden State Valkyries, a happening that Stewart lamented as "disappointing collectively."

Recent history nearly repeated itself in the Pacific Northwest on Friday: after another solid start, the Liberty endured further second struggles, but this time they recovered well enough to post an 84-76 victory against a Seattle Storm group fighting for its playoff life. While that obviously doesn't fully stem the bleeding, it can serve as a solid foundation for what New York would like to see in a championship defense.

"It gets us closer just because we're we're kind of locking in on the things that are important," Stewart said of a New York victory that saw them win the rebounding battle by 10. "Controlling the boards is one of our non-negotiables. The turnovers probably could be a little bit less, but probably better than what it's been as of late. But we're just really happy with this game. Now it's [about] compiling them, it's making this happen multiple times and getting back to a rhythm and a feel that we all want to be at."