NEW YORK \u2014 Tests showed that New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart avoided significant injury to her leg during Saturday\u2019s loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Stewart appeared to injure her leg running up the court in transition, less than four minutes into Saturday\u2019s 101-99 loss. Coach Sandy Brondello called a timeout almost immediately after Stewart\u2019s apparent injury. Stewart went to New York\u2019s locker room just before the end of the first quarter.<\/p>\n
After the loss, Brondello did not have an immediate update on Stewart\u2019s status going forward or additional specifics about the injury itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, she\u2019ll be okay,\u201d Brondello said.<\/p>\n
The Liberty\u2019s matchup with the Sparks was the second game of their weekend back-to-back, as New York beat the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night. In the win over Phoenix, Stewart scored a season-low 6 points in 31 minutes, though she added eight rebounds and five assists.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to give an excuse of being fatigued because we did have two days off,\u201d Stewart said Friday. \u201cI just gotta get my legs back underneath me. I don\u2019t know how I do that with a back-to-back tomorrow, but I\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was New York\u2019s second back-to-back of the season. The Liberty held a four-point lead early in the first quarter in their matchup with the Sparks, but never led after the 7:50 mark of the period.<\/p>\n
The Sparks stretched their lead to as many as 15 points, and although New York was able to tie the score multiple times in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles forward Rickea Jackson hit a game-winning flip layup as time expired to give the Sparks the victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked really hard for this win,\u201d Jackson said after Los Angeles\u2019 fifth consecutive victory. \u201cI didn\u2019t personally want to go to overtime. I\u2019m like, \u2018We can get this out the way. End this road trip right now, I\u2019m willing to do whatever that takes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson scored a team-high 24 points in the win, but the second-year forward was just one of many Sparks to make critical contributions.<\/p>\n
Forward Dearcia Hamby recorded a third straight double-double as she finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Center Azur\u00e1 Stevens logged her seventh double-double of the year, adding 17 points and 11 rebounds, while guard Kelsey Plum scored 20 points and had eight assists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bent and we bent, but we didn\u2019t break,\u201d Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. \u201cWe just kept coming back, and for me as a coach, I love the confidence that our players are playing with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu scored 30 points as New York snapped its five-game win streak. Guard Natasha Cloud added 22 points and nine assists.<\/p>\n
The Liberty outscored the Sparks 24-7 in transition, but shot 33.3 percent from 3-point range, and were outscored in the paint (54-44).<\/p>\n
Stewart\u2019s injury comes as the Liberty recently welcomed star center Jonquel Jones back to the lineup Tuesday. Jones has missed 12 games this season due to multiple ankle injuries.<\/p>\n
New York forward Kennedy Burke did not play in the second half of Saturday\u2019s loss due to cramping, Brondello said. Forward Leonie Fiebich played 31 minutes in the defeat but did so after suffering a hand injury in Friday\u2019s win.<\/p>\n
Stewart is averaging 19 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this season. She hasn\u2019t missed a game this year but underwent surgery on her right knee in March after the conclusion of Unrivaled. She has missed only two games since signing with the Liberty in 2023.<\/p>\n
New York is set to begin a four-game trip Monday, when it faces off against the Dallas Wings. The Liberty play the Minnesota Lynx, in the first of four meetings between last year\u2019s finals participants, Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
The Sparks host the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday. Second-year center Cameron Brink may make her season debut after suffering a torn ACL last June. Brink told reporters Saturday that she had been cleared, but that she was still \u201cgetting back up to speed with everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
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