ATLANTA — The Liberty woke up Saturday morning fifth in the WNBA standings with the hopes of capturing a win against the Dream to leapfrog to second.
With a weakened frontcourt and limited to just eight players after Sabrina Ionescu was sidelined with a left foot injury three hours before the game, the Dream overtook them and secured a 78-62 victory over the Liberty.
This defeat marks the Liberty’s fourth in their last five games, keeping them in fifth position. They trail Atlanta by two games, with the regular-season series between them split 2-2.
Should the standings remain unchanged at the end of the regular season, involving ties with the Mercury and Aces as well, the tiebreaker will go to the team with the superior record against opponents who are .500 or better. Currently, both are 12-11 in these match-ups.
The next tiebreaker would be head-to-head point differential, which favors the Dream at plus-14.
Atlanta’s Karl Smesko may only be in his first season as a WNBA head coach, but he’s been a longtime fan of the league.
He can’t recall another season during which the competition was as balanced as it is.
“I’m not sure who the eighth seed will be, but they have a shot at winning it all because they’re that talented,” Smesko commented. “These teams are capable of getting hot and going on a streak. There are more strong teams in the league now than I can ever recall.
“Maybe the top teams will progress, but I wouldn’t be shocked if these playoffs turn unpredictable, and unexpected outcomes occur.”
The Aces are a prime example of a team peaking at the right moment. They came into Saturday with a nine-game winning streak, which propelled them into third place, slightly ahead of the Mercury.
The rest of the playoff picture includes the Fever (No. 6), Storm (No. 7) and Valkyries (No. 8), with the Sparks only a half-game behind expansion Golden State for the final postseason spot.
The Liberty are starting to feel the pressure in terms of how important each game is.
“We have to go into the next [seven] games with a mindset to win every single one of them,” Kennedy Burke said. “Sandy [Brondello] mentioned it, how we’re just in a tough spot, but we have to really just stick together and really want to win, basically. You know, just to be in a better seeding.”
