WNBA playoffs: Breanna Stewart’s heroic effort isn’t enough to save New York Liberty’s repeat championship hopes

PHOENIX — Breanna Stewart lowered herself onto a folding chair at the corner of the PHX Arena court after shootaround on Friday. The three-time WNBA champion buzzed with adrenaline, her left knee brace evidence of her immense contributions to the New York Liberty’s championship defense.

The knee? She doesn’t care. She doesn’t want to talk about it. The focus is on what they’re about to do on the court. Embrace the underdog mindset of their No. 5 seed. Feed into the disdain from a road crowd. Harness the mentality they earned.

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“We’re the defending champs, you know what I mean?” Stewart said. “Nobody else is.”

That won’t be true for much longer.

The Liberty entered the season overloaded with talent, but couldn’t reach the group’s full potential while injuries spread throughout the roster. Their repeat effort ended on Friday with a 79-73 loss to Phoenix in a winner-take-all Game 3.

“Only one team gets to feel good at the end of their season,” Stewart said hours later, sitting this time behind a dais for the final time in 2025. “And this year, we weren’t that team.”

It wasn’t for lack of sheer will by the injured Stewart with the season on the line.

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Stewart’s energy flowed baseline to baseline as a one-woman demolisher, goading DeWanna Bonner into shooting fouls on one end and busting up actions on help-side defense the other way. She scored a game-high 30 points, the second-most of any player in the postseason, with 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals despite playing on a sprained MCL she sustained in Game 1.

“That’s why she’s the franchise player that she is,” guard Natasha Cloud said.

After the Mercury “threw the kitchen sink” at them in Game 2 to even the series, Stewart vowed to return the courtesy.

“We’re gonna give them everything we got,” Stewart said, rising from the folding chair.

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“And the pots and pans,” she added, mimicking a throw of them.

Turns out the brand of kitchen sink and cookware was Stewie. She forced a turnover in the first minute, then scored the game’s opening bucket from beyond the arc. Another came late in the frame, a fresh sight on a season in which she hit a career-low 24.1% of them.

In the second, she continuously drove downhill and drew called contact. Every time the Liberty climbed to within one, it was Stewart keying the game with a tough bucket or swift assist. The and-1s accumulated.

She nearly knocked the Mercury out herself with all 14 of the Liberty’s fourth-quarter points, pulling the reigning champs back into it every time they seemed done in the final minutes. When that stat came up after the game, she incredulously turned to head coach Sandy Brondello for verification. “No way,” she said, her tone low from the mic.

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The performance is a far cry from being unable to walk out of PHX Arena on Sunday, fearful she had torn something in her leg when she exited Game 1 two minutes into overtime. An MRI showed it was merely a sprain.

“People are injured all the time,” Stewart said. “People are always playing through stuff, physically, mentally, but trying to be my best and really focusing on giving back, then … focusing on myself and doing whatever I could to kind of keep us in it.

“And it wasn’t enough. So while it might be memorable, it still sucks.”

Five Mercury players combined to score 19 in the final 10 minutes, punctuated by a baseline shot from Bonner that tipped the near side of the rim, hung in the air and drained the Liberty’s hopes for good.

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It served as an appropriate dagger. New York’s entire season has been a lesson in fortuity. The chips that fell their way in 2024 did not in 2025. The brace on Stewart’s leg served as a gut-check reminder that this team couldn’t escape the bad injury luck it carried all season. The literal hit to the gut Leonie Fiebich took ninety seconds into Game 3 punctuated the ominous tone.

“Obviously, we didn’t live up to our expectations that we set out for ourselves, being the defending champions,” Brondello said. “And, yeah, it was hard to get any kind of rhythm for us. I think … we faced so much adversity … I’ve had injuries with players before, but not quite like this year.”

The Liberty started the season 9-0, barrelling toward a third consecutive Finals. They ended it 1-2, staring down an uncertain future. The WNBA and WNBA Players Association are actively negotiating a collective bargaining agreement that will, no matter the contents, change the way the league operates. Most of the league’s players will be unrestricted free agents, allowing for potential player movement never before seen.

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Stewart, New York’s buzzy free agent signing ahead of the 2023 season, said on Friday she is coming back to the Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones said they’d also like to run it back, keeping together the big three at least for now. But a lot can change by the time free agency opens, if it does on time. The pieces around them will differ.

The veteran leader said earlier in the day she didn’t need perspective between Games 2 and 3. The 2025 season was her ninth playing in the league and her eighth in the playoffs. She’s been beaten by 20 and won by 20.

In a season of resilience for the Liberty, Stewart left it all on the court and served as the ultimate steward if it didn’t go their way. By the time Stewart, clad in a “Stew York” hat, stood from her final folding chair of the day to meet her wife near the locker room, the buzz around her stilled for another offseason.