Coach Sandy Brondello will point the Liberty toward an historic playoff run, as soon as she knows who New York will play in the first round. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II
Sandy Brondello already has her team primed, healthy and in pole position for an historic playoff run toward this franchise’s first-ever WNBA title.
But there’s just one more regular-season game for the top-seeded Liberty’s coach to focus on.
And it will dictate New York’s first-round opponent as this much-anticipated postseason opens this weekend in Downtown Brooklyn.
“It was important for us. It was one of our goals set in that we set out, trying to get that home court advantage,” Brondello said after the Liberty grabbed the top seed in the playoffs with Tuesday’s 87-81 victory in Washington.
“Now, obviously we still have to take care of our business and in the playoffs,” she added.
That “business” won’t get started in earnest until after Thursday’s league-wide season finales.
Though New York (32-7) is locked into the top spot, there are three teams vying for a Game 1 appearance at Barclays Center on Sunday.
The Mystics and Chicago (both 13-26) are one game back of the Liberty’s incoming opponent, the Atlanta Dream (14-25), who can hold onto the coveted last available spot or get in with a win, or defeats by both Washington and the Sky.
The Mystics will have to beat playoff-bound Indiana and have the Dream lose to the Liberty, while Chicago must beat Connecticut, still trying to hold off reigning back-to-back WNBA champion Las Vegas for the third seed, and hope for losses by both Atlanta and the Sky.
Brondello’s squad hasn’t taken any opponent for granted this year, nor will it once the No. 8 seed is revealed Thursday night.
“I mean, we know it’s gonna be extremely hard,” she ceded.
“But getting home court, we have a great arena, we have great fans, so we’d want to play in front of our fans as much as we can.”
Though they have been at close to full…
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