Liberty vs. Mercury Preview: How, Who to Watch in Desert Duel
The first of what the New York Liberty hope is a fine nine is set to be staged this weekend.
Sunday marks the tip of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, as seven of the Liberty's sisters on the leaderboard are chasing them for the title of champion that currently resides on Atlantic Avenue. New York's journey for a repeat gets underway in the second half of a quadruple-header, as they head to the desert to face the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday late afternoon (5 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Headlined by the services of MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix (27-17) took three of the four regular season meetings from the Liberty this season. The most recent was an 80-63 triumph back on Aug. 30. Olympic heroine Kahleah Copper led all participants with 22 points while Natasha Mack brought in 10 rebounds. Phoenix scored over a quarter of its points off 19 Liberty turnovers.
Of note, however, the Liberty have had a healthy contingent for just one of those games, an 89-76 victory on July 25 in Brooklyn. Sabrina Ionescu dazzled with 29 points while Jonquel Jones had a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double. Armed with its "big three" Ionescu, Jones, and Breanna Stewart, New York overcame a 12-point deficit to earn the win and won the battle on the boards by four.
New York and Phoenix will do postseason battle on the WNBA bracket for the fourth time. The first three have all been single-game sets, with the Mercury prevailing in the most recent get-together back in 2021's opening round. Ironically enough, current Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello was in charge of the Mercury back then and that also marks the last time a fifth seed has advanced beyond the debut round. That season also marks Phoenix's most recent WNBA Finals showing, and the second of four for the Opals legend.
The WNBA's first round undergoes a bit of a makeover this year: while it remains a best-of-three series, it turns to a 1-1-1 format rather than the top seed hosting the first two required games. Game 2 of the set, a potential clincher for the weekend's winner, will be staged on Wednesday at Barclays Center.
The winner of the Liberty-Mercury series will face the winner of the top seed Minnesota Lynx's bout with the Golden State Valkyries, the eighth and final group on the bracket. New York previously mastered Minnesota for its first championship in last fall's Finals.
Series Schedule
- Game 1 (@ Phoenix): Sunday, September 14, 5 p.m., ESPN
- Game 2 (@ NEW YORK): Wednesday, September 17, 8 p.m., ESPN
- Game 3 (@ Phoenix, If Necessary): Friday, September 19, TBD, ESPN2
Keep An Eye on Emma Meesseman
So talented, so packed are the 2025 Liberty that Emma Meesseman is coming off the bench. Chided by Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve for her decision to sign with the Liberty, Meesseman has said that she's "happy" in New York, and it's safe to say that the feeling is mutual. Forced into immediate action by the plethora of injuries, Meesseman proved to be force to be reckoned with in the starting five and now serves as the primary offensive threat off the bench. The Belgian baller was around for only one of the four Mercury meetings, scoring a team-best 17 in the aforementioned loss last month.
Arizonan to Watch: Monique Akoa Makani
The Mercury mostly consist of veteran talents seeking to break on through to the other side of the postseason like Thomas and Satou Sabally while Copper is seeking her second ring. Akoa Makani, however, has been a pleasant surprise among the undrafted, serving as a vital x-factor as the Mercury climbed up the leaderboard. When the Cameroon native reached double-figures, Phoenix posted an 8-2 record. The Liberty discovered firsthand how dangerous a sharpshooting Akoa Makani can be, as she broke out for a career-best 21-point showing in the first showdown back on June 19.
They Said It
"I've got some pretty good players on my team that have been in really big moments, none more than last year, going into Minnesota, we won the third game ... they play in the Olympic Games, all around the world. That kind of prepares you for these moments. It's just focus, like breaking the game into little compartments and making sure we can win these first five minutes and next five minutes. But it's also containing the runs they go on. I just need to control that with using the timeouts wisely to take out the crowd as much as we can, because they do have a great crowd. was there for eight years. It was the X Factor, it's strong."-Sandy Brondello on the Mercury
“They’re really big and clearly they’re reigning champs. For us, it’s about playing our game. We got to look back at all the video over the four games we played them. Last game, they weren’t at full strength. For us, it’s seeing what worked against them and go out there with a great game.”-Alyssa Thomas on the Liberty (h/t Jenna Ortiz, AZCentral)
Prediction
The only shame surrounding the Liberty-Mercury series is the fact that the sheer firepower on each side more or less ensures that the winner is done no favors, as the league-leading, very angry Lynx more than likely await in the second. Nonetheless, the matchups is more than likely the one that evenly divides prognosticators as opposed to the foregone conclusions many foresee on the other areas of the bracket.
With the excuses that the Liberty were never truly embracing already out the window, New York has an opportunity to reclaim the narrative on its title defense. It has seized the opportunity at several other potential turning points of this recent run of prosperity and have proven themselves well capable of facilitating itself out of jams.
Ideally, the Liberty would handle business early against Phoenix so as to be better prepped for the potential Finals rematch in round two. The Mercury is far too talented to let that fly but asking the seafoam savants to raise the temperature on Phoenix feels like a reasonable ask at this point on the franchise timeline.
Liberty in 3
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.