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The resounding belief among the Liberty and Lynx was that the WNBA schedule makers made a mistake by waiting until late July to schedule a 2024 WNBA Finals rematch.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve called it a “big miss” and said it was “common sense” to schedule it earlier.
To add insult to injury, the league’s top two teams, who are on the brink of creating a rivalry, play four times in 21 days this late in the season and the battle for first place in the standings — and potentially home-court advantage in the 2025 WNBA Finals, which now is a best-of-seven series — may be determined specifically by how this regular-season series plays out.
The Lynx are practically full strength, aside from losing Karlie Samuelson to an ankle injury that required surgery.
But the Liberty have been hit hard by injuries, playing Wednesday’s 2024 WNBA Finals rematch without Breanna Stewart (right knee), Kennedy Burke (right calf) and Nyara Sabally (right knee).
Natasha Cloud was also under the weather but fought through it given the Liberty’s thinned depth.
The Lynx beat the Liberty, 100-93, to take a 1-0 regular-season series lead and added to their cushion in the league standings.
The Lynx (23-5) sit five games ahead of the Liberty (17-9) and six ahead of the third-place Mercury (16-10.)
Barring a collapse, the Lynx are in strong position to take the top seed for the playoffs and would have home-court advantage throughout.
The Liberty should hope to hold on to No. 2 and have home-court advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Liberty players said they aren’t paying too much attention to the standings.
The reigning champions feel that when they are at full strength, they can beat anyone, anywhere.
The Liberty gave the Lynx a run for their money late in the fourth quarter Wednesday, cutting a 15-point deficit to just four over two minutes.
That push was a reminder that the Liberty, even when not at full strength, are one of the league’s most formidable teams, and they leave opponents a small margin for error.
