Breanna

Stewart

Battling an injured knee, Stewart did all she could to help the defending champion Liberty avoid elimination, which included scoring all 14 of the Liberty’s fourth-quarter points. The scoring output in the final frame nearly amounted to half of her points total on the evening — she had 16 points through three quarters on 4-of-10 shooting. The two-time MVP finished as one of two New York players to reach double figures in scoring, and will enter the 2025 offseason as one of the top WNBA free agents.

Stewart, playing on a strained MCL, logged 20 minutes in Game 2 and struggled to contribute much on the offensive end. She shot just 33.3 percent from the field and made little impact as a facilitator or rebounder. Yet, the two-time MVP wasn’t alone in her offensive struggles — New York, as a team, made only 30.2 percent of its shots from the field en route to totaling 60 points on the evening. With the loss on Wednesday, Stewart will have just one day in between games to recover and get ready for a series-deciding Game 3 in Phoenix on Friday.

None of the Liberty’s five starters were able to reach double figures in scoring on Wednesday, as they all shot inefficiently and played limited minutes due to a large second-half deficit. Jones, however, was at least able to make an impact on the glass, leading all players in rebounding in Game 2. Her biggest impact came in the game’s opening quarter — here, she shot 3-of-3 from the field and scored all seven of her points before going scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting the rest of the way. New York will almost certainly need a more productive performance on Friday from its reigning Finals MVP if it wants to avoid elimination, especially with Breanna Stewart playing through a knee injury.

While Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello described Stewart as a game-time decision after injuring her left knee during Game 1, the forward herself plans to be available. “They told me that structurally, everything looks OK. So my plan is to go,” Stewart said. According to her, an MRI revealed a strained MCL. Depending on the grade of strain, the healing process can take anywhere from a few days to eight weeks. Emma Meesseman’s role would expand if Stewart encounters any issues after playing 13 minutes off the bench in Game 1.

Stewart, who injured her left knee during Sunday’s series-opening win over the Mercury, did not participate in Tuesday’s practice. According to Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, the star forward will be a game-time decision for Game 2. The good news is that scans of Stewart’s knee were “relatively clean,” according to Brondello, but she did not offer any specifics regarding the injury. If Stewart cannot play on Wednesday, Emma Meesseman would be the most likely replacement in the starting lineup. Meesseman played 13 minutes in Game 1, finishing with two points and eight rebounds.

The majority of Stewart’s field goals were assisted by Sabrina Ionescu, who found Stewart for all three of her shots on drives right at the rim, a spot on the floor where Stewart is almost unguardable. While she didn’t score as many points as Natasha Cloud, Stewart’s impact on both ends couldn’t be fully captured by how she stuffed the stat sheet. Stewart came up in the clutch for the Liberty especially when the team struggled to score in the fourth quarter. She made a tough hook shot over Satou Sabally to tie the game at 65 with 1:31 left in regulation prior to the game’s overtime period. Stewart scored an empathetic and-one on a drive to the basket following a pass from Ionescu with 3:01 left in overtime. Following the score, Stewart fell to the ground in a lot of pain, injuring her left knee, the opposite knee of her bone bruise from the regular season that kept her out for a month. Stewart left the game after attempting a free throw, and there wasn’t an update on her status following the game.

Meesseman provided a scoring punch for the Liberty off the bench spacing the floor well from beyond the arc while cutting at all the right moments inside of the arc. She hit one three-pointer on a drive and kick from Natasha Cloud and scored at the rim off a couple of well placed passes by point forward Breanna Stewart. Meesseman finished the regular season shooting a career-high 57.2% from the field which is an impressive feat after she came to the Liberty mid-way through the season and had to learn a completely new playbook with limited practice time. On Thursday night Meesseman rebounded and facilitated the ball at a high level. She and Stewart led the Liberty with six rebounds a piece while Meesseman found three different teammates in Cloud, Sabrina Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich all on back-cuts and scores to the basket.

On Thursday night Ionescu became the first player in Liberty franchise history to record 11 assists without a turnover in a single game. To end her regular season prior to the playoffs, Ionescu registered at least nine assists in each of her last three games which ties the longest streak in her career. She also recorded her 21st double-double of her career and fourth of the 2025 regular season. Ionescu’s 11 assists were to five different teammates including five registered alongside Breanna Stewart who she’s developed an almost telepathic chemistry with. Ionescu also made sure to find the Liberty’s other front court players in Jonquel Jones and Nyara Sabally for two assists each in addition to wings Leonie Fiebich and Kennedy Burke cutting to the basket off the ball.

Stewart led the Liberty in scoring while shooting an efficient 64.3%, her highest percentage since returning from being out almost the entire month of August with a bone bruise in her right knee. Stewart now has 41 career games of scoring 20 points on at least 60% shooting from the field, the eighth-most in WNBA history, passing Tina Charles. She scored over half of her field goals off passes from Sabrina Ionescu where the Liberty guard found Stewart cutting to the basket, hitting some open jumpers and running in transition. Stewart also had three assists of her own to Ionescu in transition and to Emma Meesseman who cut off the ball in two different quarter court sets.

Stewart recorded a complete stat line in New York’s home finale, the Liberty’s first game with a full roster for quite some time. The focus for the reigning champs, who are locked into the 5-seed for the playoffs, is to be healthy for the postseason, which opens on Sunday. For that reason, fantasy managers still competing in their playoffs may be unable to count on Stewart playing her usual minutes in Thursday’s regular-season finale against the Sky. That may be an opportunity for Isabelle Harrison and Stephanie Talbot to pick up additional minutes after not checking into Tuesday’s win until the outcome was no longer in doubt.