Liberty at Fever: How & Who to Watch as All-Star, Commissioner's Cup Loom

Members of the new-look New York Liberty have constantly reminded the basketball world that, even with their chemistry clicking at the WNBA All-Star break, championships aren't won in the summer.

Trips to an in-season competition's grand finale, however, are another story.

The Liberty have a chance to show how far they've come with their new acquisitions on Wednesday afternoon, as they'll face off against the Indiana Fever in a de facto early bird special to close out the pre-All-Star slate. If New York prevails on Wednesday, they'll earn entry into the Commissioner's Cup title game slated for August against the Las Vegas Aces (a loss from the Connecticut Sun in Chicago will also seal their spot).

New York also has a chance to go into the break on a high note: winners of three straight and seven of their last eight, the Liberty have moved into the second spot on the WNBA leaderboard behind defending champion Las Vegas. Their last two games have carried a flair for the dramatics, as they've earned consecutive four-point victories over Phoenix and Seattle.

After a promising start, Indiana has dropped seven in a row but the rebuilders have remained competitive: five of the seven losses in this current drought (and 10 overall) have come by single digits including a one-point fall to the Dallas Wings on Sunday. Indiana has faced off against New York once this season when they were victims of Breanna Stewart's dominant Barclays Center debut on May 21. This will be the first of two meetings against the Fever this month, as they'll come back to Brooklyn on July 12.

What: New York Liberty (13-4) @ Indiana Fever (5-14)

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

When/Watch: Wednesday, 12 p.m. ET, YES/NBA TV

Who's Favored: NYL -8.5

The audacity from Marine Johannès to thread this pass to Stewie!
pic.twitter.com/FvZJCkUxdv
— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) July 5, 2023

Keep An Eye On: Marine Johannés

The main part of the "superteam" term is "team." For as much attention as the Liberty's accoladed individuals receive, success is only a full sum of the parts, even if teams like Las Vegas managed to make do with limited bench contributions (only six players on last year's champions played more than 16 minutes a game last year, compared to nine for the developing Liberty).

On paper, that shouldn't be a problem for the Liberty: Kayla Thornton has fulfilled every defensive expectation to date, Nyara Sabally came over with the fifth pick in 2022, and Johannés' on-court magic has become world-famous. But the Liberty's depth game has struggled drastically, especially since Stef Dolson went down with a knee injury on June 23. Liberty brass claims that Dolson is "ahead of schedule" and All-Star downtime should help, but there's no doubt that the Liberty have missed her prescience and veteran reliability.

The struggles of the bench are perhaps best defined by Johannés: the French sensation has taken steps to improve her defensive game (currently posting a career-best rating of 106) but has lost her trademark shooting touch, averaging just four points and hitting 30 percent from the field in her last six games. The absence of her close friend Dolson might be a part of that, but Johannés would do doubt love to go into the All-Star break on a wave of momentum.

Feet set, cash out @VictoriaVivians 💰

📺 @iontv pic.twitter.com/BUN191TtxF
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 7, 2023

Fever to Watch: Victoria Vivians

The Fever apparently used all their luck and credit with the basketball goddesses on lottery night, where they won the right to draft South Carolina legend Aliyah Boston. Not only have they dropped a series of heartbreakers but they just received news that sophomore standout NaLyssa Smith will be out for the next two weeks. The All-Star break soothes the blow a bit but it's still a bad break for a team whose playoff prospects are getting late early.

Vivians has lingered as a depth option for the Fever since 2018 and she should only take on a larger role with Smith out. She's not getting as many minutes as she used to under new coach Christie Sides but is still shooting a career-best 43 percent from the field (including 54 percent from inside the arc).

Indiana's last win on June 15 proved Vivans is still capable of taking control of a game: she shot 7-of-9 from the field and had 17 points in a 92-90 win over Chicago.

They Said It

"I think that's something that we've all just embraced and embodied and not let it change who we are as individuals and we're still having fun. We're still learning through mistakes and that's super important, especially when the stakes are high and there's a lot of pressure. It's about just not forgetting where you are in that moment and understanding that there's going to be adversity and you're going to have to face it the best way that you can and it's something that we continue to work on every single day on an individual basis, but also just as a group, The stronger that we are as a whole, the better our team is going to be when those times that adversity hit."-Sabrina Ionescu to All Knicks about how New York has responded to early challenges with new expectations.

Prediction

Yet another trap game awaits the Liberty on Wednesday a feeling only amplified but an unusual start time and the rebuilding Fever's propensity to linger in games thanks primarily to the efforts of 2023's top pick and incoming All-Star starter Boston.

Indiana's not an easy position, one that's eerily similar to how the Liberty look not too long ago: packed to the brim with young talents, one of whom is labeled generational. For the time being, however, draft lottery night remains the most optimistic day on the Indiana calendar and moral victories often pack the ledger. Boston is undoubtedly capable of drawing a big-name talent but patience and growth are the names of the game for the time being.

In the visitor's locker room, the Liberty know they've struggled against some suspect competition but they've done a remarkably strong job of rising to the occasion when it matters most. There'd be no better way to go into the All-Star break.

Liberty 84, Fever 77

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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