Liberty's Startling Slide Reveals Importance of Breanna Stewart
The New York Liberty are approaching a full month without star forward Breanna Stewart. You don't need to dig too deep to see that her presence has been missed.
Stewart went down with a right knee bone bruise on July 26, heading to the locker room just three minutes after tipoff against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks would triumph, vanquishing New York 101-99 on a Rickea Jackson buzzer beater.
Yet there was little need to sound the alarm bells. Even with the loss, New York was 17-7 and second in the league standings, two whole games ahead of the third-place Phoenix Mercury.
Twelve games later, it's a different story. The Liberty are 5-7 without Stewart, falling to the No. 5 seed and reeling from a shocking loss to the Chicago Sky on Thursday.
Only the Liberty could play their best game of the year Tuesday and then lose against the Sky Thursday
— MK 🗽💍🧙♀️ (@squintsNY) August 22, 2025
Granted, it's tough for any team to overcome the absence of an MVP-caliber player. Look no further than Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever this season. But in the case of Stewart and the Liberty, the effects have been severe and far-reaching.
Let's take a closer look.
Breaking Down the Liberty's Splits Without Breanna Stewart
Despite seeing a subtle dip in some of her offensive numbers, Stewart was an integral piece of the league's top offense, contributing 18.3 PPG through her first 24 contests.
At the time of her injury, the Liberty's 87.9 PPG paced the WNBA. Not surprisingly, that's taken a slight hit without the league's eighth-leading scorer this season.
That said, there are bigger fish to fry. Yes, New York's offense has fallen from league-leading status to middle of the pack, but three-point efficiency remains a strength, and they even poured in a season-high 105 points against the Sparks on August 12.
Instead, it's the defensive metrics that appear most troubling in Stewart's wake.
New York Liberty splits with and without Breanna Stewart. Here’s what stands out to me:
— Lou Orlando (@SweetLouuuuu) August 22, 2025
▫️A bit surprised by the drop in transition offense. Fastbreak pts and pts off turnovers both down big since Stewie’s injury
▫️Defense down across the board, opponent fastbreak success is… pic.twitter.com/eqFkarsNPO
Without the six-time All-Defensive forward, New York's defensive rating plummets from third to ninth. Or to put it more plainly, the Liberty go from a top-three defense with Stewart to a bottom-five defense without her.
Opponents are thriving in transition, New York flip-flopping from second-best to second-worst in fastbreak points allowed.
Even basic defensive stats like steals and blocks have nosedived. The Liberty led the WNBA with 8.8 steals per game in Stewart's 24 games. Since her injury, they're tied for the fourth-fewest.
Breanna Stewart got hurt and the Liberty's defensive rating went from 97.2 to 106.8.
— Machinehead🗽🍅 (@HFMachinehead) August 22, 2025
The reigning DPOY got hurt and Minnesota's defensive rating went from 95.9 to 96.7.
It's an absolute miscarriage of justice that Stewie doesn't have multiple DPOY's.
The offense is not as grave an issue, but some concerns lie on that end as well.
Chief among them are puzzling trends in transition offense, with both fastbreak points and points off turnovers down six per game.
The decline could stem from New York's defensive woes, considering the sharp drop in forced turnovers, or simply from the loss of a dynamic offensive threat in Stewart. Either way, it's an odd look for a Liberty squad that should have no problem pushing it aggressively, especially with Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud in the backcourt.
The discrepancy in free-throw attempts is less egregious, although it once again points back to Stewart, who ranks third in the WNBA with 6.0 per game.
Put it all together, and it sure feels like Stewart is the glue holding this New York superteam together.
Admittedly, that's a daring statement for a squad that features two other bona fide stars in Ionescu and Jonquel Jones, a defensive stalwart in Cloud, and one of the league's deepest supporting casts. Yet the longer Stewart remains sidelined, the more her value becomes undeniable.
Recommended Reading:
Lou Orlando is a Fordham University alum, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. At Rose Hill, he covered women's basketball for the university newspaper, the Fordham Ram. In addition to calling games on 90.7 FM. The Brooklyn native enjoys bagels and thinking about random early-2010s athletes, that is when he isn't penning stories for Women's Fastbreak and Indiana Fever On SI.
Follow SweetLouuuuu