The New York Liberty are finally getting healthy and hope to make a run at getting at least a top four seed and homecourt advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
The defending champions have been beset by injuries this season with stars Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart both missing extended time. Now the team is almost completely healthy heading into the stretch run.
Stewart returned Monday after a 13-game absence to recover from a bone bruise in her right knee. The Liberty held off Connecticut 81-79.
This season the Liberty have gone 10-0 when Stewart, Jones and Sabrina Ionescu have all played and finished a game. The defending champions are 13-15 when they don’t.
“Someone was talking about it, and it was like, ‘Wait, that’s crazy,’” Ionescu said. “It’s just been tough for this group and I think it’s kind of one of those opportunities where we know when we’re at full strength, we’re a really tough team to beat.”
Now they are in a battle with Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix for seeds 2-5 in the postseason. Minnesota is on the verge of clinching the top seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Lynx just got back MVP candidate Napheesa Collier from an ankle injury last week.
While the Liberty are in the mix for homecourt in the first round, Seattle, Indiana, Golden State, Los Angeles and Washington are within four games of each other for the final three playoff spots.
The Fever have been hampered by injuries with star Caitlin Clark still out with a groin injury. She’s been out for five weeks already. The team lost Sophie Cunningham for the season with a knee injury after having guards Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald also sidelined for the year with injuries.
Power poll rankings
Minnesota remained the No. 1 team in the poll, with Las Vegas moving into second as the Aces ride a 11-game winning streak. Atlanta dropped one spot to third. Phoenix, New York and Seattle were next. Golden State and Los Angeles followed the Storm. Indiana was ninth. Connecticut and Washington came after the Fever. Chicago and Dallas rounded out the poll.
New hire
The Portland Fire announced Monday that Golden State Valkyries vice president of basketball operations Vanja Cernivec will be the WNBA expansion franchise’s first general manager. She currently has helped build Golden State to the winningest expansion team in league history. The Valkyries are in a good position to make the playoffs — something no expansion team has done in its inaugural season.
Player of the week
A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas was the AP player of the week for the third straight week. She averaged 28,7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks to help the Aces win all of their games. Other players receiving votes included Tina Charles of Connecticut, Allisha Gray of Atlanta and Nneka Ogwumike of Seattle.
Game of the week
Las Vegas at Atlanta, Wednesday. The Aces and Dream are in a tight battle for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. The two teams are tied with the Aces holding the tiebreaker. They met last week and the Aces came away with a two-point win at home.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
