The New York Liberty is locked in as the eighth seed after concluding their regular season with a 28-16 record. The 2024 WNBA champions haven’t looked like themselves in the last two years, and this season, they ended their run with two losses. To make things more difficult, the Liberty will face the Minnesota Lynx in the first quarter of the 2026 playoffs.
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While New York will enter the series as underdogs, Sabrina Ionescu is not ready to surrender to the odds. With the fact that they
“We’re not like a traditional eight seed. I think a lot of things didn’t go our way, and you know, this regular season is what it is in the standings. But I think now we have an opportunity.”
“It doesn’t matter what seed you are. You’re just playing, and you got a three-game series, and anything can happen,” she told reporters after a loss to the Atlanta Dream in the last game of the regular season on Wednesday, per the New York Liberty YouTube channel.
“Honestly, we’re excited… I think we’re our hardest opponent, our worst opponent, so at the end of the day, we just have to focus on us.”
The Liberty started their season on a strong note before the injuries mounted and the losses stacked up. In their first 15 games, they were one of the best teams in the league with an 11-4 record, which included an eight-game winning streak. However, since then, they went 15-14 with Satou Sabally suffering a season-ending concussion injury.
While many may already be counting them out, Ionescu and her teammates are focused on giving the New York fans a legend for the ages.
“…I think it’d be a hell of a story if we were able to come out of this on top because of what we went through in the regular season,” she added.
The Liberty will be excited for the matchup, bringing the rivalry back after two years. In 2024, the Lynx were the best team in the league. The Liberty had entered the WNBA Finals as the underdogs, but ended up defeating them in Game 5, winning the first title in the franchise history. When they meet again in the first round, Ionescu and her teammates will look to hand the Lynx another surprise.
“I love it,” Ionescu said about the first-round matchup against Minnesota. “I mean, it really doesn’t matter, but I think there’s obviously a rivalry with having played them in the finals and having won.”
“They’ve been the best team all year [but] we haven’t. But now we get an opportunity to go out and upset a one seed, and I think that excites us.”
While the Liberty have been inconsistent throughout this year, Sabrina Ionescu has experienced a very similar trend individually. Her numbers have been down across the board. But the Liberty star hasn’t lost her confidence in what she is capable of.
“I know I haven’t been at my best in this regular season, and I’ve never really used any excuse,” she told reporters during the same media interaction.
“I understand that, and I want to be better for the city and for this organization. If you tell me that we have a chance, then I’m always going to bet on myself and on my teammates.”
However, that optimism did not work in their latest outing against the Dream. Ionescu’s teammate Leonie Fiebich had claimed they would beat the Dream in their final game of the season but fell short.
Ionescu averaged 14.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 31 games in this regular season. She shot 38.8% from the field, including 29.5% from the 3-point line. She is averaging the fewest points since 2021, a career-low in rebounds, and the fewest assists since her rookie year in 2020.
Ionescu is also having her worst year from the 3-point line, and her field goal conversion rate is the lowest since 2021.
The Liberty have Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones on the injury list before the playoffs. So the pressure is on for the New York Liberty ahead of the upcoming postseason.