The seemingly unstoppable New York Liberty will head into the WNBA playoffs on Sunday.

After last year’s loss in the finals against the Las Vegas Aces, the Liberty came back this season and now have the best record in the league.

Both new and old die-hard fans have packed the team’s home games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn this season, and have boosted ticket sales by 64%.

Celebrities such as Fran Lebowitz and Jason Sudeikis are game-day regulars, and Steph Curry, Jordan Chiles, Common, Chloe Fineman, Amy Poehler and others have all been seated courtside this year.

And high-profile rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have generated new enthusiasm around the WNBA, helping the league set viewing records in 2024.

The Liberty will face the Atlanta Dream at Barclays at 1 p.m. on Sunday, kicking off a WNBA championship bid — the one honor that has eluded the team in its 27-year existence.

Want to become part of the WNBA fandom? Here’s a primer.

Why are the Liberty such a hot ticket now?

The answer to this question starts in 2019, when Joseph Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai bought the team from controversial Knicks owner James Dolan.

The deep-pocketed Tsai family promptly invested in the team. Their first order of business involved moving the Liberty from a small arena in Westchester to Barclays and building out a state-of-the-art training facility.

Then, they set out to build a powerhouse team. In 2023, the Liberty signed three WNBA stars: Jonquel Jones, Courtney Vandersloot, and Breanna Stewart.

While signing each of these three players individually would be big news, acquiring all three was a huge deal. The move paid off, and last season the Liberty made it to the WNBA Finals, losing to the Las Vegas Aces.

Who will the Liberty play in the first round?

The Liberty will face the Atlanta Dream, which should be a pretty easy series for New York to win. While they lost to the Dream in this season’s final game, the Liberty had already secured a spot in the playoffs and most of the big named starters sat out for part of the game.

How do the playoffs work?

The top-seeded New York Liberty will play the bottom-seeded Atlanta Dream in a best-of-three contest, with the first two games taking place at the Barclays Center and the third (if necessary) taking place in Atlanta.

What teams could give the Liberty the most trouble?

There are some fun storylines from this year that will continue into the post-season.

Keep an eye on the Las Vegas Aces, who are looking to win their third straight championship. They are led by A’ja Wilson, who became the first player to reach 1,000 points in a season and most likely will be the league MVP. Her season has been tremendous: She’s not only scored the most points, but she’s also had the most rebounds and blocked shots. No other WNBA player has ever accomplished such a feat.

If you like an underdog story, pay attention to the Minnesota Lynx. They’ve performed well but have been overshadowed by storylines from the Aces, Liberty, and Indiana Fever, which drafted Caitlin Clark.

The Lynx quietly kept winning and are now the No. 2 seed. Plus, they’re the only team to beat the Liberty three times this year.

Should we talk about Caitlin Clark?

At one point the Indiana Fever were terrible. They started the season 1-8, which was sorely disappointing for fans considering that the team had drafted Clark, who is perhaps the most talked about college player of her generation. She’s selling out games in Indiana as well as in every city where the Fever play.

But after the WNBA’s break for the Olympic Games, the Fever started winning and made it to the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. The monthlong break gave the team time to bond, since the Fever only had one player in Paris for the Olympics. A rhythm was born that created a dynamic shooting trio of Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston. The team could go deep into the playoffs despite being seeded six out of eight.

Because the Liberty has the best record in the league this season, the team will have the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and will play the first two games at Barclays Center.

Why is playing at Barclays good for the Liberty?

When the team moved to Brooklyn, one of the biggest changes can only be described as “vibes.”

The Liberty have one of the WNBA’s most renowned sports mascots: Ellie the Elephant. In less than five years, the team’s games have become premiere events, complete with a twerking elephant mascot.

Ellie was introduced in 2021 and now has a following that rivals (and in some cases, surpasses) many of the players’ followings. She’s been written about in Vogue, the New York Times, USA Today, ESPN, Time Out and elsewhere.

Her dance moves are so beloved that she got Bed-Stuy native and rapper Lil’ Kim to dance with her during halftime last year at Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.

How can I watch?

If you’ve got the time and money, tickets to playoffs games are on sale now. As of this writing, there were seats available for around $30.

If watching on TV is more your speed, the Liberty landed a TV rights deal with FOX5 and its sister station, My9 in New Jersey. ESPN will also be airing the playoffs, so head to any sports bar and throw your own watch party.