The Liberty were almost on the brink of elimination.

Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas appeared to have a go-ahead layup with a second remaining in regulation to defeat the defending champions.

But she smoked it and gave the Liberty life.

The miss — and Sabrina Ionescu ‘s end-of-regulation prayer — led to an overtime period the Liberty won, which led to a 76-69 first-round Game 1 victory over the Phoenix Mercury.

Now it’s the Mercury on the brink of elimination as the best-of-three series shifts to New York for Wednesday’s Game 2.

The result comes after Leonie Fiebich put her team up six following a made trey with under a minute remaining in OT. Natasha Cloud ‘s drive — and near turnover — got Fiebich open on the win for the trey at the 57.3 mark of the extra period.

At that point, the

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