Natasha Cloud , Liberty Earn Playoff Lead in Overtime

A Cloud provided relief in the desert in the form of an early postseason lead for the New York Liberty.

Natasha Cloud's breakout in her postseason debut with the Liberty led the way in a 76-69 overtime victory over the Phoenix Mercury, one that saw them overcome excessive turnovers and gave them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three tilt.

Cloud, facing off against her previous WNBA employers, put up 23 points on 9-of-12 from the field while backcourt mate Sabrina Ionescu had 16 points and seven assists. Jonquel Jones had seven rebounds to secure the win in the opening stanzas of the Liberty's debut title defense's knockout round.

It was, however, a bittersweet day for the Liberty, which once again fell victim to the injury bug: with just over three minutes left in the overtime period, Breanna Stewart went down with a painful, apparent knee injury, one that eventually proved to end her day. Stewart, who previously missed 13 games over the summer due to a bone bruise on her knee as part of a lengthy injury list, finished the day with 18 points and six rebounds.

Injured on a physical drive to the net that yielded an and-one opportunity on a Satou Sabally foul, Stewart stayed in for her awarded free throw attempt but left at the next stoppage. She watched the rest of the overtime session, one that saw the Liberty earn an 11-4 advantage in the final five to close things out, from the bench, where she was fitted for a knee brace by head trainer Terri Acosta.

Phoenix was led by 15 points from Kahleah Copper, with Alyssa Thomas one behind her while coming a rebound and a couple of assists short of triple-double. The Mercury has lost eight consecutive opening games of multi-pronged the series, the longest such drought in WNBA history.

Fifth-ranked New York becomes the lower-seed to win a first-round game since 2023 and can earn advancement in front of its home crowd on Wednesday night at Barclays Center (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).