Game Recap: New York Liberty vs. Phoenix Mercury (First Round, Game 1)
PHOENIX (AP) — Natasha Cloud scored 23 points, Breanna Stewart added 18 before hurting her knee in overtime and the New York Liberty beat the Phoenix Mercury 76-69 on Sunday in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round playoff series.
New York will advance to the semifinals with a win in Game 2 on Wednesday in New York.
Stewart fell to the the ground and grabbed at her left knee after making a layup with 3:01 to play in overtime. She stayed in the game and missed the free throw, trying to play through the injury. She left the game about a minute later and didn’t return.
New York coach Sandy Brondello had no update on Stewart’s injury after the game. The New York star had a bone bruise in her other knee in late July that forced her to miss about a month of the season.
Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 15 points and Alyssa Thomas had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. DeWanna Bonner added 12 points.
Cloud, who played in Phoenix last season, made back-to-back layups to give the Liberty a two-point lead with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter. Copper answered with two free throws and, after a turnover by Sabrina Ionescu, Thomas dropped a no-look pass to Copper for a wide-open layup that gave the Mercury a 65-63 lead with 1:44 remaining.
Stewart then made a tough basket in the lane 13 seconds later that eventually forced overtime.
The Liberty, who averaged 13.8 turnovers in the regular season, finished with 20 turnovers — one shy of their season high — which included 14 after halftime.
The Mercury made 25 of 77 (33%) from the field and shot 23% (6 of 26) from 3-point range.
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