The New York Liberty have already clinched a postseason berth, and all that remains to be decided is what seed they will have.
New York will take on the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday night, but without Breanna Stewart. The Liberty forward woke up Wednesday dealing with soreness, and head coach Chris DeMarco said, “Some soreness crept in. A play from the last game, and then didn’t wake up feeling great. We’ve got a run here to the playoffs, just precautionary with soreness.”
A Liberty loss on Wednesday would mean that the team would earn the No. 8 seed in the playoff bracket. This result would mean New York would face the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx in a best-of-3 series starting Sunday.
A New York win without Stewie keeps the team in contention for the No. 6 and No. 7 seed. While only a one-spot difference, this would mean the Liberty would face either the Golden State Valkyries or the Las Vegas Aces in the first round.
With her being ruled out, Stewart’s regular season is over. She finished this year averaging 20.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. This is the most points that she has averaged in a season since 2023 (23.0), and is the sixth-most in the WNBA.
One storyline of Stewart’s absence is that it means her campaign for the 2026 WNBA MVP Award is over. Her body of work is complete, and now she will wait to see if she did enough during the season to earn her third career MVP Award.
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