2000 New York Liberty season
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| 2000 New York Liberty season | |
| Head Coach | Richie Adubato |
| Arena | Madison Square Garden |
| Attendance | 14,498 per game |
| Results | |
|---|---|
| Record | 20–12 (.625) |
| Place | 1st (Eastern) |
| Playoff Finish | Lost WNBA Finals (2-0) to Houston Comets |
| New York Liberty seasons | |
| < 1999 | 2001 > |
The 2000 WNBA season was the 4th season for the New York Liberty. The team reached the WNBA Finals for the third time, but they were swept by the Houston Comets.
Contents
Offseason
Expansion Draft
The team lost Sophia Witherspoon and Ciquese Washington to the Seattle Storm and the Portland Fire, respectively.
WNBA Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | College/School/Team |
| 1 | 13 | Olga Firsova (C) |  Ukraine |
Kansas State |
| 2 | 29 | Desiree Francis (F) |  United States |
Iowa State |
| 3 | 45 | Jessica Bibby (G) |  Australia |
Dandenong Rangers (WNBL) |
| 4 | 61 | Natalie Porter (F) | Australia |
Australia |
Regular season
Season standings
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Liberty x | 20 | 12 | .625 | 14–7 | – |
| Cleveland Rockers x | 17 | 15 | .531 | 13–8 | 3.0 |
| Orlando Miracle x | 16 | 16 | .500 | 13–8 | 4.0 |
| Washington Mystics x | 14 | 18 | .438 | 13–8 | 6.0 |
| Detroit Shock o | 14 | 18 | .438 | 10–11 | 6.0 |
| Miami Sol o | 13 | 19 | .406 | 9–12 | 7.0 |
| Indiana Fever o | 9 | 23 | .281 | 7–14 | 11.0 |
| Charlotte Sting o | 8 | 24 | .250 | 5–16 | 12.0 |
Season schedule
| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| May 29 | @ Houston | 68-84 | Loss | 0-1 |
| May 31 | @ Phoenix | 48-51 | Loss | 0-2 |
| June 3 | Utah | 87-76 | Win | 1-2 |
| June 4 | @ Washington | 67-79 | Loss | 1-3 |
| June 7 | @ Detroit | 73-69 | Win | 2-3 |
| June 9 | Sacramento | 56-77 | Loss | 2-4 |
| June 10 | @ Indiana | 70-62 | Win | 3-4 |
| June 13 | Washington | 56-57 | Loss | 3-5 |
| June 18 | Miami | 58-52 | Win | 4-5 |
| June 21 | Detroit | 63-67 | Loss | 4-6 |
| June 23 | @ Indiana | 69-60 | Win | 5-6 |
| June 25 | Los Angeles | 67-72 | Loss | 5-7 |
| June 28 | Phoenix | 82-69 | Win | 6-7 |
| June 30 | Indiana | 72-70 | Win | 7-7 |
| July 1 | @ Orlando | 57-69 | Loss | 7-8 |
| July 3 | @ Cleveland | 65-66 | Loss | 7-9 |
| July 5 | Portland | 62-45 | Win | 8-9 |
| July 7 | @ Minnesota | 76-70 | Win | 9-9 |
| July 8 | Miami | 63-51 | Win | 10-9 |
| July 12 | Charlotte | 84-70 | Win | 11-9 |
| July 14 | @ Orlando | 55-51 | Win | 12-9 |
| July 19 | @ Seattle | 78-55 | Win | 13-9 |
| July 20 | @ Los Angeles | 66-82 | Loss | 13-10 |
| July 23 | Houston | 69-64 | Win | 14-10 |
| July 24 | @ Washington | 78-64 | Win | 15-10 |
| July 28 | @ Charlotte | 66-56 | Win | 16-10 |
| July 29 | Cleveland | 81-67 | Win | 17-10 |
| July 31 | Charlotte | 81-56 | Win | 18-10 |
| August 4 | Orlando | 70-57 | Win | 19-10 |
| August 6 | @ Miami | 41-57 | Loss | 19-11 |
| August 8 | Cleveland | 57-44 | Win | 20-11 |
| August 9 | @ Detroit | 63-66 | Loss | 20-12 |
Playoffs
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| Eastern Conference Semifinals | |||||
| 1 | August 12 | @ Washington | 72-63 | Win | 1-0 |
| 2 | August 14 | Washington | 78-57 | Win | 2-0 |
| Eastern Conference Finals | |||||
| 1 | August 17 | @ Cleveland | 43-56 | Loss | 2-1 |
| 2 | August 20 | Cleveland | 51-45 | Win | 3-1 |
| 3 | August 21 | Cleveland | 81-67 | Win | 4-1 |
| WNBA Finals | |||||
| 1 | August 24 | Houston | 52-59 | Loss | 4-2 |
| 2 | August 26 | @ Houston | 73-79 | Loss | 4-3 |
Player stats
| Player | GP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
| Tari Phillips | 31 | 247 | 28 | 59 | 21 | 427 |
| Vickie Johnson | 31 | 137 | 77 | 22 | 5 | 380 |
| Becky Hammon | 32 | 64 | 58 | 29 | 1 | 351 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 32 | 105 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 277 |
| Crystal Robinson | 27 | 68 | 48 | 23 | 10 | 238 |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | 32 | 109 | 205 | 65 | 5 | 205 |
| Sue Wicks | 32 | 149 | 21 | 26 | 39 | 156 |
| Marina Ferragut | 23 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 50 |
| Shea Mahoney | 15 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 27 |
| Jessica Bibby | 17 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Olga Firsova | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Desiree Francis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
