New York Liberty is desperately looking to get back to playoff contention at the moment. With the Minnesota Lynx already securing the first 2025 WNBA playoff spot, the defending champions are facing the heat even more. Trying to retain their title, Liberty has been sitting at the second spot just a few weeks back. Unfortunately, the side has witnessed a flurry of losses. And now, having lost their latest game to the Atlanta Dream, the Liberty looks to be in a tricky situation.
The team has been badly missing Breanna Stewart’s services. Ever since losing their talismanic athlete, Liberty’s form has slumped further. And now, with the tie-breaker situation coming into play, the recent loss might just come back to bite them in the back.
New York Liberty Is Facing An Unforeseen Playoff Crisis
Liberty is currently in fifth place on the table. In Stewart’s absence, Liberty has recorded the fourth-worst WNBA defensive rating. Unfortunately, that is not the only woe bothering Sabrina Ionescu and her team. A win against the Dream would have made things pretty easy for New York. It would have catapulted them back to second place. Most importantly, what hurt Liberty the most was Atlanta tying the regular season series 2-2.
Now, looking at how the Liberty seems to have lost their way, if their playoff hopes come down to tiebreaker, things will not be favorable. According to the rules, if two teams finish the regular season with identical records, the side with a better record against the .500 will get the nod. However, in this scenario too, Dream and Liberty are 12-11.
Atlanta Dream Defeated New York Liberty, 78-62🚨
— Prime Report Hoops (@Prime_Reports) August 23, 2025
Atlanta Dream💫, 24-13
New York Liberty🗽, 22-15#WNBA pic.twitter.com/Qn7h7BO52p
This would mean that the equation will then come down to a head-to-head point difference. Much to Liberty’s woes, this particular scenario favors the Dream at plus 14. Meanwhile, expressing significant concerns, Emma Meesseman delivered a strong message to her teammates.
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Emma Meesseman Unhappy With New York Liberty’s Lean Phase
The New York Liberty has now lost four out of their last five games. One of these losses came against Chicago Sky. A team that has already been eliminated from the playoff race. Thus, it is pretty much evident that the team’s confidence is badly shaken. Following yet another loss to Dream, Emma Meesseman had had enough.
She openly expressed her frustrations about the team and asked her teammates to shake off complacency. Speaking with The Post, the 32-year-old clarified how the team must focus hard and reignite the fire within. “I’m just looking at the result and looking at the result, it’s always a tough game. I feel like we’re making it very hard on ourselves sometimes. So I don’t think we should be too happy with just having a win. … I’m not going to give grades because it doesn’t matter because I think we can do better,” said Meesseman. Surely, the 32-year-old has reasons to be unhappy.
Coming out of a three-year hiatus, the Liberty star joined the team to help them win consecutive titles. And while she is averaging an impressive 13.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, watching the team falter surely gives her room to get frustrated.