The allure of New York City is something that isn’t lost on the professional athletes that grace its pitches, gridirons and courts throughout the year. It’s the City That Never Sleeps. It’s the Concrete Jungle. The one where dreams are made of, according to Alicia Keys.

And it’s home to some of the most exuberant sports fans in the world. Postseason success stories have long been known to unify a city, to bring them together behind a common cause. Now, New York City is once again bracing itself for a postseason run, this time with the New York Liberty. Head coach Bill Laimbeer’s team is entrenched in a fight for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the best record in the league, which would guarantee homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.

“Oh boy. That would be awesome,” Liberty fan William Graham said of the Liberty’s postseason hopes. “They haven’t even been to the playoffs since 2012 – three years ago. So, that would be awesome. And the Liberty deserve it. They’re one of the stalwarts of the league. Liberty fans are fanatical and it would be really great.”

Their success this season has come as a bit of a surprise to some. As a franchise, the Liberty are no strangers to the playoffs – they’ve made the postseason in 12 of their 19 years in the league. But this year’s version of the Liberty was a bit of an unknown before the season tipped. Cappie Pondexter was gone after five years and there were two new rookies in the fold. And Epiphanny Prince was back home in New York.

So, when the Liberty surged and claimed the top spot in the Eastern Conference, their play turned plenty of heads. And they have yet to relinquish that spot.

On Thursday, the Liberty got their first taste of a playoff atmosphere inside Madison Square Garden. The arena was buzzing – both for the Liberty and because Elena Delle Donne was making her first appearance of the season in New York. But at the end of the night, it wasn’t the Liberty who were celebrating a much-needed win.

Delle Donne and the Sky put together one of their best defensive performances of the season and knocked off New York, 82-60. In the Liberty locker room, though, the mood was positive. Though not satisfied with the result, players understood that Thursday’s game was an opportunity for a learning experience, a loss to grow from.

“This is one of those games where we have to definitely let it go,” said Swin Cash. “We didn’t show up. Give credit to Chicago. They came in here with the mindset that it was a playoff game. You saw their intensity, and we weren’t able to match it.”

Despite the loss, the central theme for Liberty fans and players was that there is still so much more basketball to be played.

“We’re excited, but we don’t want to look too far ahead,” said rookie center Kiah Stokes. “We want to make sure we try to clinch the No. 1 spot for the playoffs. I think everyone in New York wants to have a winning team somewhere. The [New York Rangers] did well, but we want to kind of take it to the next step if we can.”

All season long the Liberty have been unified under the same goal: make the playoffs and work toward a championship. In fact, ask any team in the league and they’ll probably say something similar. But for New York, the focus has been on renewing and rejuvenating a franchise that has a long history of success but has yet to bring home a WNBA championship.

“It’s funny,” said Cash, “because I feel like we have tried to rebirth what they did here early on when the WNBA first came out and the fan base that they had. … It would mean a lot. It was something very special to bring the first one to Detroit (with the Shock in 2003). That was amazing. I think the city really embraced it. And to be in the Mecca here in New York, to be a part of that and cement your name in history, I don’t know, it’s pretty special. Something someday hopefully I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids about and always come back here.”

“There’s such a strong tradition here with the New York Liberty,” added center Carolyn Swords, “and a lot of great players and great experiences. We want to honor that tradition and play our hearts out and do what we can to really make it exciting for the fans and for all of those who came before us.”