Sixty points. At home. In late August.
That is the sort of scoreline that follows a team into the postseason. The New York Liberty were beaten 79-60 by the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night at Barclays Center, their lowest output of the year.
The shooting numbers explain it. New York hit 30.2% from the floor, a season low for the franchise. Seven threes from 31 attempts. Nothing dropped, from anywhere, for forty minutes.
Rebecca Allen called it a step backwards afterwards, and said losing that way on their own court should not happen.
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In the field, and holding the worst ticket in it
New York sit at 23-16, three wins from their last six. Perfectly respectable for most rosters. Not for one built to do more than show up in the bracket.
They are tied with the Dallas Wings on record, but the tiebreaker puts Dallas seventh and the Liberty eighth. Eighth means the final playoff berth and the ugliest possible first-round matchup.
Rebekah Gardner took the longer view, pointing out that progress moves in both directions and that a film session now beats one in October.
Chicago arrive banged up on Saturday
The Sky close out the season series in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon at 15-24, already eliminated. They have lost two in a row, including 87-81 at Connecticut on Tuesday, though they had won three straight before that.
Chicago head coach Tyler Marsh argued this week that records around the league, his own included, do not tell the whole story.
The medical report gives him a case. Natasha Cloud played 16 minutes on Tuesday with a right knee problem. DiJonai Carrington lasted four with a foot issue. Both were shut down after halftime as a precaution. Sydney Taylor remains on a minutes cap after a groin injury.
Whether any of them play Saturday is anyone’s guess. New York took two of the first three meetings this season, which right now buys them precisely nothing.
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