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Liberty's Breanna Stewart Gives Details on Knee Injury, Possibility of Playing in Game 2

Liam McKeone

Breanna Stewart left Game 1 of the Liberty-Mercury series with a knee injury on Sunday.
Breanna Stewart left Game 1 of the Liberty-Mercury series with a knee injury on Sunday. / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Liberty's WNBA title defense got off to a decent enough start last weekend, with New York beating Phoenix in overtime, 76–69, to take a 1-0 lead in the playoff series. But the win came with an asterisk for the defending champs.

Two-time league MVP Breanna Stewart was forced to exit the victory early after suffering a knee injury. Stewart missed a good chunk of the regular season with another knee injury, but her most recent ailment is separate from the bone bruise that kept her out for 13 straight games.

When speaking to the media on the matter earlier this week head coach Sandy Brondello didn't give many details but said scans on Stewart's knee were "relatively clean" and she'd be a game-time decision for Wednesday's Game 2.

Ahead of the contest, Stewart did her own media availability and detailed her knee injury, as well as how she's feeling about playing in Game 2.

"They told me that structurally, everything looks OK," Stewart said to reporters during a shootaround at Barclays Center. "So my plan is to go."

Stewart went on to explain that the scans revealed she sprained her MCL and the pain she felt in the moment "scared" her more than anything. Ahead of Wednesday's tipoff, ESPN's Holly Rowe reported that Stewart will start in Game 2. Stewart's knee is "stable," but she might limit her play time because of pain. Stewart additionally noted that her pain level as of now is at a three out of 10 and assuming the knee feels good after her pregame nap she'll try to play.

The Liberty will take everything they can get from Stewart to eliminate the Mercury and advance. New York went 22–9 in games Stewart started this year, but went 5–8 in the games she missed due to injury. Even if she's hobbled with the MCL sprain the Liberty will be glad to have her out there; Stewart averaged 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds during the regular season.

Game 2 tips off at 8 p.m. ET.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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