WNBA: At 7-2, New York Liberty enjoy smooth start to the season

Our last New York Liberty update ended by suggesting the Liberty could go 9-0 to start the season. That didn’t happen, of course, but all things considered, the Liberty are in a good place as we head into June.

While the standings aren’t always a reliable indicator of team strength at the start the season, especially since teams have played a varying number of games, the Liberty sit comfortably in second place overall; they are only below the Connecticut Sun, who are, in fact, still undefeated at 8-0. Regardless, 7-2 is an excellent record, and more importantly, the Liberty look great on the court.

Most of their wins have been pretty dominant. They’ve played the Indiana Fever three times, blowing them out by nearly 40 points in two of those games. They’ve beaten the Washington Mystics twice in swift fashion. They also have good wins against the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury.

Their two losses have come to tough teams in the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky, and both are nothing to panic about.

As June begins, so does Commissioner’s Cup play. The format of the tournament has changed a bit this year, with teams playing conference rivals once in a two-week period at the beginning of June. These games still count toward the regular season, but also the top team from each conference after the two weeks of games will advance to the Cup championship. The Liberty currently top the Eastern Conference in the Cup standings, along with the Sun.

Let’s go through a few highlights from the last few weeks of play:

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton locks up Caitlin Clark

Head coach Sandy Brondello says Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is an early contender for Defensive Player of the Year, and she’s not wrong.

Let’s not dive too deep in the #discourse, but it’s an obvious fact that teams are trying to throw their best defense at Caitlin Clark. The rookie broke the NCAA scoring record (both men’s and women’s) prior to being drafted to the WNBA, and can get hot from distance. Clark scored under 10 points in two of the three games between the Fever and Liberty; her only other performance that did not reach double digits was against the two-time champion Las Vegas Aces.

In her first contest against the Liberty, Clark scored nine points. She followed it up with a nice 22-point performance—in her home opener, nonetheless—but in the Fever’s most recent game against the Liberty, Clark was held to just three points.

This is mainly because of Laney-Hamilton’s defense on her. Laney-Hamilton absolutely locked her up, as she shot 1-for-10 from the field, one of only three performances this season where Clark has attempted 10 or fewer shots. In the Liberty’s other games against Indiana, Clark shot 1-for-7 and 4-for-10 from 3, respectively.

Breanna Stewart bolsters the effort on both ends

Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images

Of course, the 2023 MVP is a big factor in the Liberty’s successes as well. While Stewart has seen a small dip in her stats compared to last season, it has not stopped her from leading her team to a great start to the season.

She currently averages 17.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game, and has scored in double digits in every game but one this season. If anything, the team’s consistency while Stewart’s 3-point shooting is down is proof that this team is a touch more balanced than it may have been last season. Maybe that is due to the increased chemistry after over a season of playing together. Regardless, Stewart’s struggles haven’t stopped her from impacting the game in other ways. She’s fourth in the league in steals per game, 11th in scoring, sixth in rebounding and 11th in blocks.

And in the end, she’s still the player you go to when you need a bucket.

What’s next for New York?

Now that Commissioner’s Cup play has begun, the Liberty will play a series of Eastern Conference foes in the coming weeks.

They’ve already played Indiana, and have Chicago, Atlanta, Connecticut and Washington up next to determine whether they will return to the Commissioner’s Cup championship to defend their title and donate more money to their chosen charity, Women Creating Change.

The one game that is intriguing from that bunch is the match against the Sun, who still remain undefeated. Although Connecticut may lose before the game between these two teams goes down on Saturday, June 8 (1 p.m. ET, ABC), the Liberty maybe have the best chance of any team in the East to take down the Sun. That game will likely determine the team that will represent the Eastern Conference in the Commissioner’s Cup, depending on how the rest of the games go.

It also will be the first time this season the two powerhouse teams face each other, after the Liberty beat the Sun in the WNBA semifinals last season. It’s going to be a great game—one you definitely want to circle on your calendar!