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WNBA star Stewart hurts left knee in Liberty's win at Phoenix in play-off opener

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Clock Icon5 daysBasketball

The defending champion New York Liberty stole home-court advantage from the Phoenix Mercury, but it may have come at a cost.

Breanna Stewart injured her left knee in overtime in the fifth-seeded Liberty's 76-69 win at fourth-seeded Phoenix in Game 1 of their WNBA play-off series on Sunday.

Stewart fell to the court and grabbed her knee after converting a layup with 3:01 remaining in OT. The two-time league MVP stayed in the game and missed the ensuing free throw and tried to play through the pain before checking out for good with 2:07 to play.

After the game, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello did not provide an injury update on Stewart, who missed 13 games in the regular season with a bone bruise in her right knee.

Stewart, who finished with 18 points, has an extra day to recover from the injury, with Game 2 of the best-of-three first-round series not until Wednesday. Game 3 – if necessary – would be back in Phoenix on Friday.

Natasha Cloud led New York with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Sabrina Ionescu chipped in 16 points, seven assists and six boards.

Kahleah Copper had a team-high 15 points for the Mercury, while Alyssa Thomas finished with 14 points, nine boards and eight assists. Satou Sabally had an awful shooting performance, making just 2 of 17 shots and going 1 of 10 from 3-point range.

No. 1 seed Lynx roll in Game 1

The top-seeded Minnesota Lynx rolled to a 101-72 victory over the expansion Golden State Valkyries in the first game of the 2025 WNBA play-offs.

Visiting Golden State took a surprising seven-point lead after the first quarter before Minnesota got on track and outscored the eighth-seeded Valkyries 80-44 the rest of the way.

Napheesa Collier had 20 points and six rebounds, reserve Natisha Hiedeman scored 18 and Kayla McBride added 17 points for the Lynx, who lost to the New York Liberty in a decisive Game 5 of the WNBA Finals last season.

Hiedeman’s 18 points were more than the entire Valkyries' bench combined, with the Lynx holding a 42-17 advantage in points from reserves.

Minnesota, which won all four matchups in the regular season, also outscored the Valkyries 44-18 in the paint.

Golden State - the first expansion team in league history to reach the play-offs in their inaugural season - got 14 points from Cecilia Zandalasini and Veronica Burton, though Burton committed seven of the Valkyries' 16 turnovers.

Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday at Golden State, with Game 3 – if necessary – back in Minnesota on Friday.

Dream pull away to beat Fever

The third-seeded Atlanta Dream grabbed a 1-0 lead in their first-round series, pulling away for an 80-68 victory over the Indiana Fever.

Allisha Gray and Ryne Howard each scored 20 points for Atlanta, while Naz Hillmon – the AP Sixth Person of the Year – finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.

The Dream found themselves in an early hole, trailing 15-6 less than five minutes into the game, but after going up 28-26 on Nia Coffey's layup at 5:29 of the second period, they never trailed again.

 

Atlanta took advantage from the foul line, going 19 of 21 on free throws.

Indiana, meanwhile, struggled mightily from long range, hitting just two of 15 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.

Kelsey Mitchell led a Fever team playing without the injured Caitlin Clark with 27 points. Odyssey Sims was the only other Indiana player to reach double figures, scoring 10.

The teams will meet again Tuesday in Indianapolis, with Game 3 – if necessary – back in Atlanta on Thursday.

Hot-shooting Aces cruise past Storm

A'Ja Wilson and the Aces picked up right where they left off in the regular season as second-seeded Las Vegas cruised to an easy 102-77 victory over the Seattle Storm in the opener of their play-off series.

Wilson, the WNBA's regular season scoring leader, had 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting and moved into 10th place on the all-time play-off scoring list.

The Aces, who won their final 16 regular-season games, can advance to the semifinals with a win in Game 2 on Tuesday at Seattle. Game 3 – if necessary – would be back in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Wilson also grabbed eight rebounds, while Jackie Young tallied 18 points, seven assists and four steals and Jewell Loyd, who was traded to Las Vegas from Seattle in January, finished with 14 points.

After the Storm scored the first five points of the second quarter to pull within five of the Aces, Las Vegas closed the period on a 23-8 run to go into half-time with a commanding 45-25 lead.

The Aces shot 50.7 per cent overall and made 14 of 29 3-point attempts (48.3 per cent).

Gabby Williams led the Storm with 16 points, while Skylar Diggins and Dominique Malonga each scored 12.