If there is a time to keep moving the momentum forward, it is the month of August during the WNBA season. This month particularly has been good to the Liberty thus far, despite having just lost to the Indiana Fever on a barrage of Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark buckets. With a 4-1 record in the last five games, the Liberty have the chance to make a strong push to get to a better spot in the playoff standings.
New York looks to avenge their loss and get back into the winning column against the Los
Angeles Sparks (which after Wednesday’s shocking sale of the Lakers are still owned by Mark Walter.) The Sparks currently reside at the 10th seed, and will lost likely stay put due to the recent trade that sent star guard Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury. Can the Liberty use this to their favor tonight at Barclays Center? We’ll see.
Where To Watch
Catch the action at 8:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video.
Injury Report
For the Liberty: Satou Sabally and Leonie Fiebich will continue to monitor their injuries.
Monique Akoa Makani will be out for the Sparks
The Game
With the season series split 1-1, the finale between these two teams could be a good one. In the first matchup, Nneka Ogwumike hit the game winner for the 98-97 victory on the 30th anniversary of the WNBA. In the second matchup, Sabrina and Stewy combined for 56 points to steal the show and take the game handily.
While the Liberty should be viewed as the favorites, their defensive presence isn’t exactly something you’d view as threatening, especially in the backcourt. The Indiana Fever proved that if you can speed up the tempo against the Liberty guards, you can catch them at a disadvantage, especially when you have the skills of Clark and Mitchell.
With Kelsey Plum now a member of the Mercury, I believe the backcourt can have a day off, while the frontcourt will have their hands full for this specific outing. Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby will be a problem on the offensive end, while Cameron Brink will be the force that she is on the defensive end, as she recently moved up in the franchise record books in blocks.
If the Liberty can find a way to limit the trio from causing a disaster while allowing their offense to flow, they will be able to be the winner of this series. Plain and simple.
Player to Watch
Cameron Brink made a bit of history the other night, swatting her 100th career block. The 6’4” 24-year-old Brink is now sixth all-time on L.A.‘s rolls…
She still has a long way to go. Lisa Leslie finished with 822 for the top spot. Candace Parker finished with 545 blocks with the Sparks while Nneka Ogwumike also ranks higher than Brink with 235. Still, Brink, when healthy, is someone who W offenses have to be plan for.
Brink is arguably having her best year in the league, averaging 9.1 points, 4.8 boards and 1.6 blocks. While her scoring is the best of her three-year career, rebounds and blocks are less than what she put up in her rookie year in 2024 before she suffered a torn ACL that put her out for the rest of the season and much of 2025. The big number, though, is games played. The Stanford product only played 34 games in her first two seasons, compared to 24 already this year.
Barring any other health issues, she seems ready to fulfill the promise that led the Sparks to take her as the No. 2 overall pick in 2024.
From the Vault
The Sparks have a financial history not unlike their East Coast rivals, both legacy teams in the W. In 2014, an investment group led by Magic Johnson and Mark Walter bought the team from a previous owners who said they couldn’t make a financial go of it. The price was $10 million, around the same amount Joe and Clara Wu Tsai bought the Liberty from James Dolan five years later.
Things have changed with WNBA valuations as Johnson noted three days at an appearance in Atlanta…
Johnson told the audience that he almost sold the team, but is happy he didn’t. Like the Liberty, the valuation of the Sparks has jumped and is now worth an estimated $415 million, a little less than the Liberty now worth $600.
“We’ve owned the [Los Angeles] Sparks for a few years now. We haven’t made a dime. … Except now. … Thank God we didn’t sell too early. We only paid $10 million for the franchise.”
Now, the question is whether Walter, who appears to be cash-strapped, will sell the Sparks as he did the Lakers and make another big profit? The team says the Sparks are not included in the Lakers sale to former Disney CEO Robert Iger and New Jersey-born developer and billionaire Jared Kushner. But as Magic Johnson said, things change in the WNBA. (A side note: Kushner’s wife, Karli Kloss, owns a small piece of the Liberty.)
More reading: Swish Appeal, Breakaway, SB Nation, Women’s Basketball Roundup, The Local W, New York Daily News, No Cap Space, New York Post, Newsday, The Athletic, NY Liberty Fan TV, Fansided, The Stomp, Just Women’s Sports, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, and The IX Basketball
- New York Liberty Game Notes – New York Liberty
- Los Angeles Sparks Game Notes – Los Angeles Sparks
