2024 New York Liberty season | |
---|---|
WNBA champions | |
Coach | Sandy Brondello |
Arena | Barclays Center |
Attendance | 12,730 per game |
Results | |
Record | 32–8 (.800) |
Place | 1st (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | WNBA Champions (Defeated Minnesota Lynx 3–2 in WNBA Finals) |
Team Leaders | |
Points | Breanna Stewart – 20.4 ppg |
Rebounds | Jonquel Jones – 9.0 rpg |
Assists | Sabrina Ionescu – 6.2 apg |
Media | |
Television | WWOR-TV WNYW |
The 2024 New York Liberty season was the 28th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA, and their third season under head coach, Sandy Brondello. The season tipped off on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, against the Washington Mystics in Washington.[1]
The Liberty started the season strongly, winning their first four games, including a dominant 102–66 win over Indiana. They slowed a little after that, losing two straight games, before winning their final two games in May. They finished the month 6–2. Their winning streak carried forward into June as they won six additonal games to extend the streak to eight games. The streak included another blow-out win over Indiana and wins over Connecticut and Las Vegas. The streak also encompassed all their WNBA Commissioner's Cup regular season games. Their 5–0 Commissioner's Cup earned them a spot in the finals. Their winning streak was broken after eight games by Phoenix. After that, they won back-to-back games against Los Angeles and a game in Atlanta before the Commissioner's Cup Final. The Liberty came up short of winning back-to-back Commissioner's Cups as they lost the final to Minnesota 89–94. They won their final game in June to finish the month 10–1. They defeated Minnesota before losing to Indiana to begin July. They won their next four games before the Olympic break to finish July 5–1. They headed into the Olympic break with a WNBA best 21–4 record. The Liberty's stellar play carried through the Olympic break as they won their first four games back, including a back-to-back against Dallas. They lost two of their last four games, losing against Connecticut and Los Angles to finish August 6–2. Their win on August 17 secured them a playoff berth. The Liberty entered September in a fight for the number one seed with Minnesota. The team won their first four games of the month before dropping two of their last three. The loss on September 15 to Minnesota ended up not being pivotal as the Liberty secured the number one seed with a win in their next game on September 17. They finished September 5–2. The Liberty's overall regular season record was 32–8, which matched their record from the previous season.
The Liberty entered the playoffs as the number one seed, and hosted the eighth-seeded Atlanta Dream in the First Round. The Liberty used home court advantage to sweep the Dream two games to zero, winning Game One 83–69 and Game Two 91–82. In the Semifinals the Liberty faced the fourth seed Las Vegas Aces. The Liberty won Games One and Two in New York 87–77 and 88–84. The Aces won Game Three in Las Vegas 95–81, but the Liberty took Game Four 76–62 to win the series three games to one. The Liberty faced Minnesota in a re-match of the Commissionier's Cup final in the WNBA Finals. New York lost Game One 93–95 in overtime. They bounced back to win Game Two 80–66. They won Game Three in Minnesota 80–77. They were unable to close out the Finals in Game Four, losing 80–82. The series returned to New York for Game 5, which the Liberty won, in overtime, 67–62. This was the first WNBA title for the Liberty, ending a streak of five Finals losses.