This season, Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty have looked largely unstoppable. Throughout the regular season, the team posted the best record in the league (32-8), clinching a playoff spot long before any other team in the WNBA. Stewart and the New York Liberty are now just three wins away from a WNBA championship.
On Wednesday's episode of "First Take," Stephen A. Smith went all-in on the Liberty, backing the team to finish the job and secure a WNBA championship against the Minnesota Lynx.
While last month Smith predicted that the Las Vegas Aces would get the job done and three-peat as WNBA champs, the "First Take" host, a New York native, is riding with his hometown team in the WNBA Finals.
"This is their 6th trip to the finals. They are 0-5 in the finals. They better get it done. If you could take out A'ja Wilson, you could take out Napheesa Collier. It's just that simple. Handle your business, do what the hell you gotta do. ... New York is starving for our basketball championship."
"Until last year, we didn't even sniff at even having hope for the Knicks to give us anything. The Liberty have been teasing us for a while. Get it done. You sent A'ja Wilson home. You can send home Napheesa Collier. ... Finish the Job."
"I have receipts," - Breanna Stewart opens up on the New York Liberty eliminating the Las Vegas Aces, avenging last year's WNBA Finals loss
In last year's WNBA Finals, Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty, who finished the season with the best record in the East, collided with the Las Vegas Aces, who finished the regular season with the best record in the West.
In the first round, the Liberty swept the seventh-seed Washington Mystics before then defeating the Connecticut Sun 3-1 in the second round, with Las Vegas sweeping the Dallas Wings in three straight games.
Then, in the WNBA Finals, Breanna Stewart struggled to find her rhythm as she shot just 3-17 in Game 4, where Las Vegas clinched their second straight win. While Stewart was trying to help Liberty win a WNBA title, she was also dealing with the pain of losing her father-in-law at that time.
After Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon referenced Stewart's Game 4 struggles during the Aces' victory parade, Stewart made a mental note. As she revealed this week following the Liberty's second-round win over the Aces, she kept the receipts.
"Just the way the series went last year, kinda going through all of that and making sure this year is different. Marta and I talk about doing everything her dad would want us to do."
"And you know, I have receipts on the things that were said — the entire team does. My mentality today was to go in and get this win for my wife and her dad.”
Game 1 of the WNBA Finals will take place Thursday at 5 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Eastern), with the Liberty hosting the Lynx for the first two games of the series.