It’s been more than a half-century since a professional basketball championship has been held by a team based in the five boroughs of New York City. 48 years since one playing anywhere in the state hoisted a trophy, and that one was by a New York Nets team emerging from the dying remnants of the seven-team ABA. Yes, New York hoop fans are more than hungry for a champion of any kind in any league.
So while to some less enlightened folks the idea of a WNBA championship being hoisted in the Brooklyn arena that is now the home of the current incarnation of the Nets isn’t all that exciting, to folks like moi it’s downright exciting. And yesterday, as CBS SPORTS’ Jack Maloney reported, New York’s representative in that league took a giant step to delivering on that desire:
The New York Liberty are going back to the WNBA Finals, and the Las Vegas Aces’ quest for a three-peat is over. Early on Sunday, the Liberty used a huge fourth quarter to pull away from the Aces for a 76-62 win in Game 4 of their semifinal series. Breanna Stewart went off for 19 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks to get the Liberty back to the Finals for a second consecutive season and a record-tying sixth time overall. They are still in search of their first title, but have a good chance to get it this year.
And considering it was the Aces that extended that drought to an even half-century last fall, as Maloney continued, this was an especially sweet win:
After losing to their superteam rival in four games in the Finals last season, the Liberty returned the favor by beating the Aces in four games in the semifinals this time around. With the Aces’ defeat, their quest for a three-peat is over. The Houston Comets, who won the first four titles from 1997-2000, remain the only team in WNBA history to pull off that feat.
Their opponent remains up in the air, because just up I-95 from the New York state line their Mohegan Sun-based neighbors, and their Eastern Conference rivals, forced a deciding game against a team that had the Liberty’s number during the regular season. Again per Maloney:
The Sun kept their season alive with a brilliant second half on Sunday afternoon, and we’re now heading to a winner-take-all Game 5 back in Minneapolis on Tuesday. This will be the first Game 5 in the playoffs since 2022, when the Sun beat the Chicago Sky in the semifinals that year after being down 2-1 in that series. Can they repeat the feat this time around?
After some uncharacteristic play on the defensive end in the last few games, and even the first half of this one, the Sun locked back in on that side of the ball. They completely disrupted the Lynx’s offense, particularly their outside attack, and all of those stops allowed them to play in transition.
Like the rest of her team, Alyssa Thomas had a rough first half, but bounced back to finish with 18 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists. DeWanna Bonner added 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Tyasha Harris put up a playoff career-high 20 points.
No, it’s not quite the NBA. But it’s a professional league and it’s downright exciting when one chooses to give it a chance. Hint, hint, those who are mired in pre-season minutiae.
Courage…