The Phoenix Mercury held back the Los Angeles Sparks 88-83 Tuesday night, simultaneously ending the playoff hopes of Los Angeles and setting themselves up for a first-round playoffs battle that should be exciting. With this win, the No. 4 seed Mercury will first face off against the No. 5 seed, the New York Liberty.
Though the Mercury will enter playoffs with a 3-1 edge over the Liberty, the first game is unlikely to be an easy one. The Liberty are in an interesting spot: the defending champions will want to prove themselves, especially since they aren't in the top half of seeding.
The opening round of playoffs will follow a 1-1-1 best of three format, a change from recent years, in which the higher seed hosted the first two games. This will see Phoenix hosting Game 1, the Liberty hosting Game 2, and Game 3 being played back at PHX Arena if necessary.
The Mercury destroyed the Liberty in August
The most recent showing between the two teams was a tough 80-63 loss for New York on August 30. Phoenix managed to make quick work of the Liberty, and limited the team to only 24 points during the second half. That was a disappointing reality for New York, especially following the return of Breanna Stewart, who suffered a bone bruise in July.
It's worth noting the game was the first time the Liberty played with a fully healthy roster since the third game of the WNBA season, which could signal the Mercury's win was owed in part to the fact that New York was genuinely still learning to play together. Despite the loss, Sabrina Ionescu hit 29 points and Jonquel Jones had a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double.
The Mercury and Liberty are old friends
This will be the fourth time the two teams have met in the postseason. The first was in 1997, when the Liberty bested their opponent, and twice again in 2016 and 2021, when Phoenix shut New York down (and the Liberty's coach Sandy Brondello was actually heading the Mercury when the teams most recently met).
The teams' first match will offer several reunions: Brondello will be back in Phoenix, the Mercury's Satou Sabally and the Liberty's Nyara Sabally will face off against one another, and Sami Whitcomb will greet her old team and coach (she played for New York for two seasons and also under Brondello for Australia during the Paris Olympic Games) as she tries to knock them out of repeat title contention.