New York Liberty lose Breanna Stewart to injury, game to Los Angeles Sparks on buzzer-beater 101-99

Stewie went down with a lower leg injury in the first quarter, and nearly two hours later, Rickea Jackson sunk the Libs with a buzzer-beater beyond belief.

Friday night may have been the high point of the New York Liberty’s season. Behind Sabrina Ionescu and a healthy Jonquel Jones, they soundly defeated the Phoenix Mercury, avenging two prior losses to the league’s #3 seed.

Entering the second half of a back-to-back and capping off an eight-game home stand against the Los Angeles Sparks, the trend-line was pointing straight up. The vibes, the basketball, the health, even the quality of the roster, with Emma Meesseman set to arrive in the coming weeks. Saturday night was going to be more of the same.

Then, while running back on defense in the first quarter. Breanna Stewart stopped dead in her tracks, hobbled around for a second, and signaled for a sub. She was soon ruled out with a lower leg injury, while Liberty fans had to battle their nausea…

Whatever came next would pale in comparison to Stewie’s injury, but what came next just made the Liberty feel even worse. They could not stop the Los Angeles Sparks’ offense, trailing 58-45 at the half. Rickea Jackson poured in a 17-point first quarter, Kelsey Plum hit three 3-pointers immediately, and without Stewie, New York’s pick-and-roll defense crumbled…

“Our pick and roll defense wasn’t great,” said Marine Johannès postgame. “We tried, for them, to play more in the paint because in the first half we had like, a lot of 3-point shots, but after they scored everything in the paint.”

What Johannès doesn’t mention is that there was a brief stretch in which New York’s defense clamped down. They allowed only 16 points in the third quarter, where they cut the deficit to five, setting up one hell of a finish.

They were also aided by a bottom-tier Sparks defense that lived up to their reputation. Without Stewart, New York’s backcourt of Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud did most of the heavy lifting. Cloud, who posted 22/3/9/1/2, had a hell of a night in transition. She ran the floor with all her might, either getting to the rim or spotting up from three, while Ionescu dominated in the half-court…

Ionescu led all scorers with 30/6/8 and a career-high-tying four steals, buoyed by a 10-of-15 shooting performance inside the arc. The Sparks played her straight up on most of her pick-and-rolls, and though their perimeter defenders did a decent job getting through screens, Ionescu consistently punished them by rising up from the midrange or getting all the way to the rim.

Both defenses collapsed in the fourth quarter. Leonie Fiebich explained the obvious, citing that on a back-to-back, the biggest challenge is “probably being a little slow on every defensive rotation. Like, you can see we’re almost there. But not quite.”

And when they were there, Kelsey Plum powered through anyway…

She had six points and four assists (of her 20-and-8) in the fourth and lived in the paint. Her matchup with Cloud did not disappoint, and though Cloud won quite a few reps early on, the Los Angeles All-Star won in the biggest moments.

Between the whistles, Stewie’s injury faded into the background. With Kennedy Burke ruled out at halftime with cramps and Leonie Fiebich continually grabbing at her taped-up hand, which she later called “nothing to worry about,” not to mention the lack of rest, the conditions were ripe for a wild finish. The Sparks were riding a four-game win streak entering Saturday, but they still needed some help to compete with New York.

Head Coach Sandy Brondello was searching for answers in the second half. She played Isabelle Harrison next to Jonquel Jones in the fourth quarter, then subbed recent acquisition Stephanie Talbot in to close the game. Talbot would play 17 minutes, jumping in front of Rebekah Gardner in the rotation, and was tasked with guarding Rickea Jackson down the stretch.

“I mean, Rickea was killing us with her size,” explained Brondello. “Leo was on her the play before, and she still scored over her, and that’s one of our best defenders. So [Steph], she played really well. I think [we] have integrated her well into this lineup here.”

Unfortunately for Talbot, she was the victim on the game’s biggest play of the night. After a back-and-forth sequence of pure bucket getting between Ionescu and a handful of Sparks, the visitors inbounded with five seconds left. Jackson set an away screen for Plum, which went nowhere, and overtime peered over the horizon. But then Jackson buried Talbot in the post, fought her with a left shoulder, and flipped up a shot attempt that defies description…

Ballgame.

Marine Johannès’ nine bench points couldn’t save the Liberty tonight, nor could seven from Harrison and double-digits from Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich. They almost got away with playing the same caliber of defense Los Angeles brought to the party, but instead, justice was served. Even if it was a “lucky shot,” as Fiebich termed it postgame.

And thus, the Liberty finished their eight-game home stand in a similar spot to where they began. No, 6-2 is nothing to sneeze at, and their win over the Phoenix Mercury was one of their most impressive performances of the season. Natasha Cloud stepping up and playing the game she needed to in Stewie’s absence is no small positive from Saturday night.

But behind porous defense, they lost not only the game but the 2023 MVP and the beating heart of the franchise in Breanna Stewart. The path to repeating was never gonna be easy, but only injuries could make it this stressful.

Final Score: Los Angeles Sparks 101, New York Liberty 99

Injury Report

Breanna Stewart was not made available for comment postgame, and the Liberty had nary an update beyond terming it a “lower leg” injury. But that in and of itself is worrisome news for Stewart, who missed the whole 2019 season with a ruptured right achilles tendon, and in 2022 had a cleanup procedure on her left achilles.

She looks to be favoring her right leg in the video, and given the “lower le” tag, it’s possibly a calf injury, but we can only wait and see.

Beyond that, Brondello does not expect Burke to be affected in the long-term with her cramping, and the same goes for Fiebich’s right (shooting) hand.

Next Up

Photo by Thien-An Truong/Getty Images

The Liberty play eight of their next ten on the road, starting with a nationally televised matchup against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings on Monday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.