New York Liberty got off to a great start in their first Playoff game by defeating Phoenix Mercury 76-69 at PHX Arena. However, in Game 2, they did not meet the same fate.
Liberty was crushed by Phoenix in an 86-60 thrashing at home at the Barclays Center. Breanna Stewart, who was coming off spraining her medial collateral ligament in Game 1, played anyway, though she was unable to put the brakes on her opponents.
Stewart’s harsh criticism after the loss
During the game, the first quarter ended in a tie at 25, but in the second, the advantage between the teams was evident, with Mercury outscoring Liberty 26-12.
New York’s leading scorer was Emma Meesseman with just 11 points in 18 minutes, the only one on the team to score in double digits.
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old veteran did not have a good game, finishing with six points in 20 minutes of play. She also added 2 assists and 2 rebounds. In this way, Stewart put an end to a long streak in playoffs where she had 44 games with at least 10 points per game and equaled her worst scoring mark of her career in this instance.
One game away from elimination and suffering the worst home loss in Liberty playoff history, Breanna did not sugarcoat the situation for the press:
“They came in and they embarrassed us on our home court,” Stewart said. “Now we have to go back there for Game 3. Winner take all. If we’re not ready for that, then we shouldn’t be here.”
When asked about her health status, after her left knee MCL injury in the last minutes of Game 1, the seven-time WNBA All-Star confessed that her knee responded well, but her performance was not what she expected:
I just wasn’t where I wanted to be today, and I have 48 hours to figure it out.
Now, the reigning WNBA champions will have to get a win to continue defending their title and advance to the Semifinals on Friday, September 19 at PHX Arena.
Meanwhile, they already have a confirmed opponent: after finishing the series 2-0 against the Golden State Valkyries, the Minnesota Lynx became the first playoff semifinalist and awaits either Liberty or Mercury.
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