New York Liberty clinch playoffs, will face Mercury in Round 1

The New York Liberty are dancing. Despite posting a 12-20 record, the Liberty still have a shot to make some noise in the WNBA Playoffs.

The New York Liberty will face the Phoenix Mercury in a do-or-die game at 10 p.m. ET on Thursday. They needed help to snag the last spot in the tournament. The Mystics and the Sparks lost on the final day of the season to give the Liberty the last spot.

The #WNBAPlayoffs bracket is set ✅

Single elimination games start this THURSDAY at 8pm/ET on ESPN2 😈 @Google pic.twitter.com/r73XQ99Sx4

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 19, 2021

If New York wins, they will move on to play the Minnesota Lynx in another do-or-die single-elimination game. The semifinals will be best of five if the Liberty can make it that far.

Sabrina Ionescu and the rest of the Liberty are trying to slip the script after losing eight of their last nine games. But that doesn’t matter if they can go on a run in the playoffs.

Even though the Liberty are the underdogs entering this game, they have the shooters to pull off the upset. New York led the WNBA in three-point attempts, three-pointers made, and they were third in three-point percentage. If they can get hot, the Mercury might be in trouble.