Liberty star Breanna Stewart injures knee in playoff win over Mercury

Defending league champion New York Liberty's playoff-opening victory in Phoenix on Sunday night was tempered by an apparent knee injury to All-Star forward Breanna Stewart in overtime.

The Liberty said afterward that Stewart will be evaluated by medical staff for the injury, which occurred with 3:01 left in overtime in New York's 76-69 win over the Mercury in the best-of-three, first-round series.

Stewart drove for a layup against defense from Satou Sabally and DeWanna Bonner. Stewart made the shot but stayed down on the court after the collision and grabbed her left knee. She stayed in the game to shoot a free throw on Sabally's shooting foul and missed before exiting at the 2:07 mark.

"She asked me to sub her out there, and she looked uncomfortable, so that was the reason we took her out there," Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. "We'll just be hoping that she'll be OK."

Stewart, 31, finished with 18 points, six rebounds (all on defense), four assists and two steals in 40 minutes.

The teams play on Wednesday night in New York. Game 3, if necessary, will bring the squads back to Phoenix on Friday.

Stewart, who has been part of three WNBA championship teams including 2024 with New York, missed 13 games this season because of a bone bruise on her right knee.

A two-time league MVP and seven-time All-Star, Stewart led the team in scoring in the regular season with 18.3 points, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game in starting all 31 of the games that she played.