The 2023 WNBA playoffs continue this Friday, Sep. 29, when the No. 2 seed New York Liberty and No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun resume their semifinal series. Tied at one win for both the Liberty and Sun, the series now shifts to Connecticut, with Friday’s Game 3 scheduled to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
After two games in New York, not much has been decided between the Liberty and Sun, with Connecticut using a big second half to win Game 1, 78-63, and New York evening things up in Game 2, 84-77.
For the third-seeded Sun, those results likely are taken as a positive. Connecticut went 0-4 against New York during the regular season, but played much better in the two home games than in the two games in New York. Now, with the series tied, Connecticut has a golden opportunity to take control at Mohegan Sun Arena—a notoriously difficult place for opponents to play, and where the Sun truly performed like they were at home (6.0 net rating, compared to 2.7 net rating on the road).
The Sun also have additional motivation after Alyssa Thomas was narrowly defeated by Breanna Stewart in 2023 Most Valuable Player voting. In one of the closest MVP races in WNBA history, Stewart received 446 points to Thomas’ 439, winning by a minuscule margin…
