\nThe New York Liberty\u00a0went into Game 2 of their best-of-three WNBA opening round playoff series versus the Phoenix Mercury\u00a0on Tuesday night, at the Barclays Center, with a\u00a01-0\u00a0lead after a\u00a076-69 road win on Sunday. Game 3, if necessary, will be played in Phoenix tomorrow night (8 p.m.) and televised on ESPN2.<\/p>\n
The winner of this series will go on to face the winner of the Minnesota Lynx-Golden State Valkyries matchup. They met Tuesday night in San Francisco, with the Lynx up 1-0 after taking
\nGame 1 72-53. The No. 1 seed Lynx had the WNBA\u2019s best regular season record at 34-10, and the No. 8 seed Valkyries, with a regular season mark of 23-21 became the first expansion team in the league\u2019s history to make the playoffs in their inaugural campaign. <\/p>\n
The Liberty, last year\u2019s league champions, are the No. 5 seed after finishing the regular season 27-17. The No. 4 seed Mercury were also 27-17 but held the head-to-head tiebreaker by going
\n3-1 against Liberty. The Liberty\u2019s prospects of making a deep playoff run hinges on the health of All-Star forward Breanna Stewart. She underwent an MRI on Monday\u00a0after leaving Sunday\u2019s game with a left knee injury.\u00a0Stewart\u00a0missed 13 regular-season games with a right knee bone bruise.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday,\u00a0Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said the MRI results were\u00a0\u201crelatively clean\u201d and expanded that the team will \u201csee how she feels tomorrow. At the AmNews press, a decision had not been announced regarding Stewart\u2019s status for last night\u2019s game.\u00a0The team went 5-8 in Stewart\u2019s 13 absences, underscoring her value.\u00a0However, they have capable veterans with four other players who have extensive playoff and championship experience.<\/p>\n
All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu, last year\u2019s finals MVP, forward Jonquel Jones, 2019 finals champion and finals MVP Emma Meessemman, her 2019 finals teammate with the Washington Mystics, Natasha Cloud, and key reserve Kennedy Burke all can provide the needed production in Stewart\u2019s absence. But it is a big ask versus a talented Mercury squad.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if Stewart can play and is close to\u00a0full strength, the team\u2019s outlook could dramatically\u00a0change.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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