WNBA post-break shake-up: Liberty take command, Fever surge as playoff race heats up – MASHAHER

The WNBA is back in action and while some things carried over through the break (New York running away with it), others did not (Atlanta’s losing skid). It’s a sprint to join the Liberty (23-4) in the playoffs and already a few games into the restart, it’s clear the bottom four teams are primed to cause disruption.

Liberty are in control of No. 1

The Liberty’s win over the Aces (17-9) on Saturday in Las Vegas not only clinched the season’s first playoff berth, it solidified their position as favorites. As back-to-back reigning champions, the Aces are still the team to beat and the Liberty did what they couldn’t do last year: win in Las Vegas (2023 Commissioner’s Cup game excluded). New York won the first game at Michelob Ultra Arena and can sweep the season series when the sides meet a third and final time Sept. 8 in Brooklyn.

Elevated play from Breanna Stewart, who struggled last postseason while enduring personal hardship, and Sabrina Ionescu, whose mid-range game has become dangerous, put New York in this position. But it’s the play of the bench and increased chemistry up and down the roster that is keeping them in line as the team to beat.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton did not play over the weekend after undergoing a “clean-up” surgery on the right knee that hampered her early in the season. Laney-Hamilton averaged 12.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals over 18 games and is the team’s lead defender. And point guard Courtney Vandersloot missed time after the death of her mother.

Kayla Thornton, Leonie Fiebich, Kennedy Burke and Nyara Sabally are able to make up for it off the bench. Fiebich, a 6-4 German Olympian, started the last two games for the Liberty and secured a fifth consecutive game with a plus-minus of 10 or better, tying the longest streak by a first-year player in WNBA history.

The bench scored a season-high 37 points Thursday against Los Angeles and in Vegas extended the streak of double-digit bench points to five games. It produces the second-fewest points in the league, but New York is 8-0 when its bench outscores the opponent’s. Laney-Hamilton returning to action will only bolster that unit and the team’s success.

The Liberty have the easiest schedule from here on out largely due to all four games against Dallas remaining. The first is in Brooklyn on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET).

The Fever’s start out of the break is what the broader audience expected to see from Indiana (13-15) to start the season. But chemistry takes time and a second training camp over the Olympic break accelerated it. With the second-easiest strength of schedule remaining, early indications are Indiana will take advantage and move up into better playoff positioning.

The offense was a well-oiled machine averaging a WNBA-best 95 points in the two wins over teams above .500 and ahead of them in the standings. They swept the season series with Phoenix (15-13) by standing strong late instead of letting the Mercury finish off a monster comeback, correcting late letdown issues that plagued early season games. And they notched their first win against Seattle (17-10), one of the league’s best defenses, with a 3-point barrage.

Caitlin Clark finding Lexie Hull for a career-best day against the Storm shooting 6-of-7 from beyond the arc felt reminiscent of her time at Iowa finding Gabbie Marshall. The attention given to Clark (52 points, 17-35 FG%, 10 rebounds, 19 assists in two games), guard Kelsey Mitchell (56 points, 11-21 3FG%) and center Aliyah Boston (24 rebounds, 12 assists) opens up teammates and the game has slowed enough for Clark to find them quicker and easier.

The Storm’s 128 defensive rating was far higher than their 94 average. Indiana scored a season-low 13 points in the first quarter, but outscored Seattle by 16 in the fourth.

Indiana’s 99.4 defensive rating isn’t likely to carry through the final 12 games, but it shows marked improvement from a 107.5 rating over the first 26 games. The Fever held Seattle to 75 points, only the fifth time the Storm have scored 75 or fewer. Seattle averaged 92 points in the first three games against Indiana.

It’s already fun to imagine what next season looks like if this is what the Fever can do now after a month off together. Indiana is off until Saturday when Clark returns to Target Center, home of the Big Ten tournament, to play Minnesota.

Healthy players already mixing up expectations

There may be no more surprising start than Atlanta’s. The Dream (9-17) snapped an eight-game losing skid going 2-0 against top-four teams Seattle and Connecticut with the preseason projected starting lineup finally healthy. Nearly all of the lottery teams brought back a key player into the fold this month.

Dream point guard Jordin Canada returned to the lineup after missing six games in July with a broken finger. She scored 10 points with eight assists despite a bad shooting night against Seattle, but bounced back on both sides of the ball to lead Atlanta against Connecticut, a Finals contender. Canada scored 13 of her season-high 19 points in the second half and added four rebounds, six assists and six steals.

Head coach Tanisha Wright credited Canada, who didn’t make her season debut until June 23 (hand injury), for keeping the team calm and holding strong late for a second consecutive game. Atlanta came into the game 2-2 when leading at the start of the fourth quarter.

“JC (Canada) is a great leader out there and I think her teammates feel very confident when she’s out there controlling it.” Wright said. “There were plenty of times I looked up and she already had a play called and they went with it and ran it.”

Rhyne Howard missed all but one game of the losing skid and returned to score a season-high 30 against Seattle. The Dream are 1.5 games back of Chicago, which is already struggling after the Marina Mabrey trade.

Satou Sabally did a little of everything for Dallas (6-20) in her debut with 20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. The team needs stability after only three players started at least 13 games and a secondary 3-point shooting threat after releasing Odyssey Sims, who was on a hardship contract.

The Mystics (6-21), who returned Shakira Austin, Brittney Sykes and Karlie Samuelson, aren’t likely to move up into a playoff spot, but they could cause chaos for those above them. In the first game back from the break, they gave Minnesota (19-8) the only close game of Thursday night. And the Lynx, the first-half’s most surprising team building its identity around strong defense, are integrating 2023 No. 2 overall pick Diamond Miller back into their offense.

Fast and furious return

Though the entire season is being played in a condensed footprint because of the Olympic break, it’s becoming a focal point again with the quick turnarounds over the first weekend. And with everyone chasing postseason positioning, the fatigue of when and how those fall in schedule will impact the race for playoff spots.

Phoenix opened with three games in four days, including a road back-to-back to start. Four Mercury starters played in the medal games and returned to the team at the beginning of the week from Paris.

“It’s crazy,” Mercury point guard Natasha Cloud said. “And every team’s doing it. It’s not an excuse, but I just hope that when looking forward and we know these events are coming up, we just do a better job of protecting players’ bodies more than anything.”

Phoenix crushed Chicago, 85-65, in a wire-to-wire domination Thursday, but fell behind early to Indiana the next night to lose part of their lead in the race for sixth. The Sky (11-16) played a back-to-back on the road at Los Angeles (90-86 comeback win) and Phoenix (86-68 loss) over the weekend. Los Angeles (6-21) continued its track toward the best lottery odds with three losses in four days.

Las Vegas didn’t play until Saturday in a nice lengthy run-up for their core four returning from Team USA duties, but hosted New York and Las Angeles in back-to-back matinees. Meanwhile, Dallas and Washington each played one game since the league returned to action on Thursday.

With so little wiggle room in the standings, the late-season log jam of games for certain teams could mean the difference between hosting or traveling, and preferable matchups. Seattle dropping both of its games has already dropped them to fifth and out of hosting the first round.