The defending Commissioner’s Cup Champion, New York Liberty (6-2) will kick off their quest to repeat tonight against the Indiana Fever (2-8). The matchup set to take place at Barclays Center at 7pm est. This will be the third meeting between the two teams this season.
Liberty are 2-0 this season against the Fever and are on a 8 game winning streak against Indiana. This will be the second game in 2 days for Caitlin Clark and the Fever, who are coming off of a win against the Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Last year, the New York Liberty won the franchises first Commissioner Cup trophy against Las Vegas Aces where Jonquel Jones won MVP.
Nyara Sabally (back) will be out tonight against the Fever. Courtney Vandersloot did not play against Washington but is listed as questionable ahead of tonight’s matchup. It is likely that Sloot will play.
Matchup Notes: (Courtesy - NY Liberty)
Sunday’s matchup will mark the New York Liberty’s 90th all-time regular-season meeting against the Indiana Fever and the third head-
to-head matchup of their four-game season series in 2024. These two franchises have met 14 times in the postseason, with their last
meeting coming in the first round of the 2015 WNBA Semifinals (previously Eastern Conference Finals). In the postseason, New York
is 6-8 against Indiana.
Against the Fever, the Liberty is 40-49 (.449) in their all-time regular season series. Last season, New York swept the season series against Indiana for the fourth time in franchise history.
New York scored 96.5 points per game in four matchups against the Fever last season, which was the Liberty’s highest single-season
scoring average against Indiana in franchise history.
No team averaged more assists per game against a single opponent in 2023 than the Liberty’s 29.0 assists per game against Indiana.
The Liberty last played the Fever in the regular season on May 18th in their second meeting of 2024 at Barclays Center. New York
came away with a 91-80 victory in their 2024 home opener in front of a sellout crowd of 17,735 fans; setting the team’s all-time regular
season attendance record.
The win extended the team’s winning streak against the Fever to eight games, the longest streak against Indiana in franchise history.
Against Indiana, New York became the first team in WNBA history to have all five starters make multiple three-pointers in a game.
Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 24 points on 50% (7-14) shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds, four steals and
three blocks. Stewart shot a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line in the win.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had a team-high +21 plus-minus after setting a franchise record for plus-minus (+43) in her first matchup with the Fever this season. Laney-Hamilton’s +64 during the Liberty’s consecutive matchups with Indiana is the fourth-highest plus-minus over a two-game span in the WNBA since at least 2015, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Jonquel Jones contributed a double-double in both of the Liberty’s matchups with Indiana so far this season.
New York’s 102-66 victory on May 16 was the highest scoring outing and biggest win against the Fever in Liberty franchise history.
Sabrina Ionescu has made at least one three-pointer in each of her last 33 regular season games, which is the longest active streak in
the WNBA.
In the Liberty’s win over Washington on Friday, Kayla Thornton posted the fourth 20-point game of her career to go along with a career-high five steals and four three-pointers.
Five players on the 2024 Liberty (Jonquel Jones, Ivana Dojkić, Breanna Stewart, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, and Sabrina Ionescu)
shot better than 45% from three-point range against the Fever last season.
Breanna Stewart averaged 29 points per game against Indiana, which led all players facing the Fever in 2023. Only 2021 Tina Charles
and 2017 Brittney Griner had a higher single-season scoring average against Indiana in Fever franchise history.
Courtney Vandersloot averaged 11 assists in four games against the Fever last season, which led all Fever opponents and was Sloot’s highest assist average against any team during the 2023 season. Vandersloot and Alyssa Thomas were the only two players to average double-digit assists against an opposing team in 2023.
New York’s +40.0 net rating and 66.7 defensive rating in 13 clutch-time minutes both lead the league so far this season.
New York held opponents to a league-low 52.5% field goal percentage on shots within five feet of the rim so far this season.