The Liberty returned home after a three-game Western tour, looking to ensure as many postseason games as possible at Barclays Center.
The WNBA-leading Ribs beat the Seattle Storm 77-70 on Thursday night in Brooklyn to improve their league-best record to 28-6 and cut their magic number to four for the top seed in the postseason.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton returned to the starting lineup after knee surgery in July and scored 18 points, helping the Liberty extend their lead over the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx to 3 1/2 games with six games remaining.
Sabrina Ionescu had 17 points and eight assists, while Jonquel Jones had 15 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots.
Breanna Stewart, the team's leading scorer, missed her first eight shots of the night but scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.
A first-overall pick would give Sandy Brondello and his star-studded team home-court advantage through the playoffs as they look to win the franchise's first championship.
“I think our No. 1 priority is to stay No. 1, but still play good basketball and peak without putting any strain on anybody,” Brondello said. “Right now we're getting everyone back together and working on tweaking our rotations so that we're ready to go as soon as the playoffs start in the next seven games.”
The top-ranked Ribs, who clinched a playoff berth with a win in Las Vegas last week, were the No. 2 seed in last year's playoffs.
They lost the first two games of the WNBA Finals to the Aces, then dropped the series in four games.
The Liberty have appeared in the most finals (five) of any team that has never won a championship, and are the only original franchise in the league that has never won a championship.
“I think it's the experience we had last year that made us do that,” Brondello said. “Being on our home court, we feel like we're playing great basketball here. The home crowd is awesome.”
“But even if we have it through the playoffs, I still don't look too far ahead. There's only one playoff. [round] “At one time. But it helps to be at home. We're in bed, we're doing our routine. It's good.”
Brondello noted that “the gap is so much larger” in this year's league that every first-round matchup will be “difficult” and “dangerous.”
Liberty wins on September 5, 2024. Michel Farshi/New York Post
As of Thursday, the No. 6 through No. 8 seeds were Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, the veteran-studded Phoenix Mercury and Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky, respectively.
Of course, the Liberty has stars Stewart, Ionescu and Jones, but they also have Lainie Hamilton back as an initial reserve for the three-game Western tour.
She returned to the starting lineup on Thursday night, marking the first time coach Brondello has used his usual starting five since July 6.
Stewart missed all five of her field goal attempts and scored just one point in the first half against her former team, but Ionescu (12), Jones (10) and Laney Hamilton (9) combined for 31 points as the Liberty led 40-36 at halftime.
Stewart's struggles continued to play out early in the third quarter when Seattle guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (21 points) hit a 3-pointer to give the Storm a 53-51 lead.
But Stewart finally got a layup in the final minute, and Liberty went on a 6-0 run to take a 62-57 lead to end the fourth quarter. Then, long-range shots from Laney Hamilton and Stewart led Liberty on a 17-2 run to extend the lead to 11 early in the fourth quarter.
