The 2023 WNBA semifinals will begin this Sunday, Sep. 24 when the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun take on the No. 2 seed New York Liberty. The game, which will be the first in a best-of-five series, will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and tip off at 1 p.m. ET.
Though the seeding would suggest an even matchup, the regular-season results between the Sun (27-13 in the regular season) and Liberty (32-8) were one-sided. New York won all four games played against Connecticut; some were close (a second-half comeback in May and an overtime nail-biter in August) and some were not (a 31-point blowout in September). But from almost every angle, the Liberty looked to be the superior team, outscoring the Sun by 18.8 points per 100 possessions.
In the playoffs, though, the slate from the regular season is wiped clean, and entering this semifinal series, both Connecticut and New York are playing some of their best basketball of the year.
The Sun defeated the Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the postseason two games to one, and their two wins certainly seemed more convincing than their sole loss. Just as they did all season long, the Sun used superior physicality to grind down their opponent, led by forward Alyssa Thomas.
Thomas—who is being discussed among WNBA fans as a favorite to…
