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It seems like a now-or-never yr for the New York Liberty.
They are back in the WNBA Finals and have the star energy to win it with Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones. They’ve one of the best document within the WNBA this season and one of the best internet score by 3.1 factors per 100 possessions (and +3.6 over their finals opponents, the Minnesota Lynx). They’ve dwelling courtroom benefit within the Finals.
In addition they carry the burden of historical past — the Liberty are 0-5 within the WNBA Finals.
How did that occur? To make use of an NBA analogy, the Liberty have had some Karl Malone/John Stockton luck — they’ve been Finals worthy however saved working into dominant groups and gamers.
Let’s check out every loss by yr.
1997: Houston beats New York, 65-61
It was the inaugural season of the WNBA, and the playoffs have been the highest two groups within the East, and the highest two within the West have been put right into a single-elimination playoff bracket. New York, the No. 2 seed out of the East, knocked off the West No. 1 seed Phoenix 59-41 to advance to the Finals towards one other East staff in Houston.
New York didn’t have a solution for Cynthia Cooper, the Finals MVP who scored 25 factors, or Tina Thompson, who added 18. The Liberty have been led by Kym Hampton, who scored 13 factors.
1999: Houston beats New York, 2-1
New York’s second journey to the Finals resulted in a loss to a well-recognized opponent in Houston.
This was a best-of-three sequence and New York took the second recreation with “The Shot.” Houston took a 67-65 lead when Tina Thompson banked in a spinning shot with 2.4 seconds left within the recreation. New York was out of timeouts and needed to go the size of the courtroom, Kym Hampton inbounded the ball to Teresa Weatherspoon who hit the best shot in Liberty historical past.
That compelled a Sport 3 however once more Cooper was an excessive amount of, she scored 24 factors within the 59-47 Houston win and she or he was named Finals MVP.
2000: Houston beats New York 2-0
Sensing a sample right here? As soon as once more New York was one of the best staff and high seed within the East, as soon as once more they made it to the Finals knocking off Cleveland and Washington within the playoffs, solely to run into Cooper and the Comets within the Finals and be overmatched. Nevertheless, Sport 2 was pushed to time beyond regulation. As soon as once more, Cooper was named Finals MVP, however Sheryl Swoopes additionally had a powerful sequence for Houston.
2002: Los Angeles beats New York 2-0
New York’s fourth journey to the WNBA Finals lastly noticed them dealing with a brand new opponent within the Los Angeles Sparks, however that was no aid as L.A. was led by the legendary Lisa Leslie, who was named Finals MVP. Becky Hammon and Weatherspoon led New York.
Sport 2 was tied 66-66 with time working down when Nikki Teasley hit what proved to be a series-winning 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left. Weatherspoon tried to repeat historical past with a half-court shot, however the shot was blocked this time. Leslie was named Finals MVP and Los Angeles had repeated as champions.
2023: Las Vegas beats New York, 3-1
That is the sequence that caught with the Liberty, put a chip on their shoulder and motivated them to return to the 2024 WNBA Finals (beating the Aces alongside the best way).
Final yr, after twenty years, the Liberty have been again within the Finals however the historical past was acquainted, working right into a powerhouse staff led by one of the best participant within the recreation in A’Ja Wilson.
New York was the No. 2 seed getting into the playoffs and knocked off Washington and Connecticut to achieve the Finals. Las Vegas received the primary two video games at dwelling, however New York took Sport 3 behind 27 factors from Jonquel Jones and a 20-point, 12-rebound outing from Breanna Stewart. New York raced to an early lead in Sport 4 at dwelling however couldn’t maintain it within the second half and fell 70-69. Wilson was named Finals MVP, and Las Vegas’ gloating about Stewart — the 2023 WNBA regular-season MVP — lit the fuse that pushed New York again to the Finals.
Due to all that, this yr seems like now or by no means.
