In Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals, the New York Liberty blew a double-digit second-half lead to a severely shorthanded Las Vegas Aces team and had to watch them celebrate on their home floor. Intent on changing that ending this season, the Liberty have come back with a vengeance.
Following an impressive back-to-back this weekend that saw them hand the Connecticut Sun their first loss of the season, the Liberty have now won seven games in a row, giving them more victories on this streak than eight teams have in total. At 11-2 they are the first team in the league to double-digit wins and are percentage points behind the Sun for first place in the standings.
The Liberty's high-powered offensive attack has come alive during this run, and they are now leading the league in offensive rating (106.7), true shooting % (56.6) and made 3-pointers (120), and are third in assist % (72.0). Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones are all averaging at least 15 points per game; only the Aces have as many players at that mark.
They've also clinched their spot in the Commissioner's Cup championship game for the second consecutive season, and have earned homecourt advantage. No team has gone back-to-back in that event, and the Liberty will have a chance to be the first on June 25. That's not the ultimate goal they're after, but another trophy never hurts.
| 1 |  |
| What a run for the Liberty, who have now won seven games in a row over the last 12 days. That included a thrilling victory over the Sun, who had been the league's lone undefeated team to that point. The Liberty's offense has really picked up, and they're averaging over 10 3-pointers per game and boast a 109.2 offensive rating during this stretch. This is more like the Liberty team we came to know last season. | |
| 2 |  |
| The Sun suffered their first defeat Saturday in one of the best games of the season, a down-to-the-wire affair with the Liberty. As great as the Sun have been defensively, that loss highlighted some of their recent offensive issues. Over the last two weeks they have a 95.8 offensive rating, which ranks eighth in the league in that span. For the season, the Sun are now tied for last in 3-point % at 28.7. | |
| 3 |  |
| If it wasn't for a last-second 3-pointer by Kahleah Copper, the Lynx would be riding a five-game winning streak. Of their three losses, two of them have come by just one point. While Napheesa Collier has received most of the credit for their success this season, she's gotten plenty of help from Kayla McBride. The veteran, who went off for 32 points in their win over the Storm, is now 11th in the league in scoring at 18 points per game, and she has ridiculous 49.2/51.2/91.2 shooting splits. | |
| 4 |  |
| The Storm's six-game winning streak came to an end Sunday with a bad loss to the Lynx, but despite that result they have to be pleased with how they've played lately. Their recent defensive performances have been especially impressive. Since their 1-3 start, the Storm are holding opponents to 38.5% from the field and boast a 90.6 defensive rating. Those marks are first and second in the league, respectively, during that span. | |
| 5 |  |
| With a surprise defeat to the Sparks on Sunday, the Aces fell to 5-4 on the season. The Aces didn't lose their fourth game last year until Aug. 19, ironically also to the Sparks. Between retirements, injuries and illnesses, this just isn't the same Aces team as last season, and there's also more parity around them. If it wasn't already clear, this week emphasized that until they get healthy, the regular season will be a grind. | |
| 6 |  |
| A roller coaster start to the season continued with a last-second win over the Lynx and a double-overtime victory over the Wings. After four losses in a row, they've now won three of their last four. Making things even better, nine-time All-Star Brittney Griner made her return from a broken toe this week. She had 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists against the Wings and already looks back to her best. | |
| 7 |  |
| Only two games for the Dream this week -- a blowout loss to the Liberty and a nice win over the Sky. Against Chicago, the Dream went 21-of-23 from the free throw line to continue what's been one of their most reliable forms of offense. Atlanta leads the league in free throws made per game (16.6) and percentage of points from free throws (21.6), and it is fifth in percentage (81.0). | |
| 8 |  |
| A week that started with a blowout loss to the Lynx ended with back-to-back wins over the Wings and Aces -- the latter being their best of the season. Dearica Hamby went for 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Las Vegas to continue a career-year. She's averaging 20.4 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 55.2% from the field. Among all players she is first in double-doubles, fifth in scoring, second in rebounding and fourth in field goal %. | |
| 9 |  |
| The Wings' tough stretch continued with three more defeats this week, including a double-overtime heartbreaker to the Mercury on Sunday. They've suddenly lost five games in a row, marking their longest losing streak since July 2019, and have dropped out of the playoff picture. During this skid they're allowing 105.1 points per 100 possessions and have a 22.8 turnover ratio. | |
| 10 |  |
| Angel Reese continues to make a real impact and this week became the third player in WNBA history to have at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in back-to-back games. Unfortunately, her frontcourt partner Elizabeth Williams was diagnosed with a torn meniscus and will be out indefinitely. Williams' absence may thrust Reese and fellow rookie center Kamilla Cardoso into bigger roles. | |
| 11 |  |
| After playing 11 games in the first 20 days of the season, the Fever played just once this week. The rest and practice time did them well, as they picked up a win over the Mystics and Caitlin Clark had by far her best performance of the season. Clark went for 30 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals, and she tied the WNBA rookie record with seven 3-pointers. That was not enough to earn a roster spot on the Olympic team, however. | |
| 12 |  |
| The Mystics lost another close one Sunday to the Liberty and are still winless. At 0-12, they now have the fourth-worst start in WNBA history, and are five losses away from matching the all-time mark set by the Atlanta Dream in 2007. The remarkable thing is nine of those defeats have been by single digits and five have been by five points or fewer. 10 of their 12 games have had clutch situations -- margin within five points in the last five minutes -- and they still don't have a win. | |
