Jonquel Jones had 19 points Sunday but the Liberty lost a heartbreaker to Washington at Downtown’s Barclays Center. Photo by Brandon Todd/New York Liberty
The New York Liberty saw their eight-game winning streak and any chance of grabbing the top seed in the upcoming WNBA playoffs go up in smoke with Sunday’s regular season-ending loss to Washington.
They also got a good, hard look at exactly how tough these Mystics might be in the opening round of the postseason.
Brittney Skyes’ buzzer-beating basket off a lob pass from Natasha Cloud lifted Washington to a 90-88 victory over New York in front of 8,306 fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center, where the Liberty will host the Mystics in Game 1 Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
“We knew it was going to be tough so this is a great game for us as we prepare for the playoffs,” said New York coach Sandy Brondello after the Mystics earned a 2-2 tie of the season series betwen the squads.
The Liberty (32-8), who hadn’t lost since an 88-75 to top overall seed and defending WNBA champion Las Vegas (34-7) on Aug. 17, had to watch as the Aces thumped Phoenix, 100-86, at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Sunday.
The defeat, which came only after Breanna Stewart’s layup with 21.1 ticks remaining evened the score following a furious 12-point comeback by the Liberty, won’t mean a thing come Friday night.
“I think they get up for us. This is a really good team that had a lot of injuries (this season). So they feel good about themselves too,” added Brondello.
The Liberty also lot their season opener to the Mystics in our nation’s capital on opening night, but bounced back to beat them in overtime here in Brooklyn on June 25 before posting a nine-point win in Washington on July 21.
Sykes finished with 20 points and Cloud added 17 for the Mystics, who were eager to test their…
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