The Liberty avoided the worst-case scenario with Breanna Stewart’s injury, but that won’t make this next stretch without her any less difficult.
She underwent imaging on her lower right leg after leaving early in the first quarter Saturday, and results showed that she avoided a significant injury, sources told The Post’s Madeline Kenney.
Stewart traveled with the Liberty on their four-game road trip — which begins Monday in Dallas — but they plan to give her time to recover instead of risking a quick return.
Stewart, who has averaged 18.3 points per game this season, exited with 6:33 left in the opening frame against the Sparks after jogging down the court in transition, waving toward the bench and then hopping on her left foot for a couple of steps.
She went down the tunnel and never returned, and in the immediate aftermath of the Liberty’s 101-99 loss, head coach Sandy Brondello didn’t know the severity of the injury and said, “Hopefully, she’ll be OK.”
In a season when Jonquel Jones has already missed two stretches due to a right ankle injury and plenty of other players have missed time, Stewart’s absence — for however long it ends up being — will force the Liberty to adjust again.
Backup center Nyara Sabally, who has missed the past three games for rest after experiencing discomfort, will be held out for the next 2-3 weeks as the Liberty take a long-term approach with her recovery ahead of the postseason, according to Kenney. Kennedy Burke also logged just six minutes Saturday due to cramping, while Leonie Fiebich played through a hand injury sustained Friday.
The Liberty have plenty of depth — enhanced even more with the signing of Stephanie Talbot last week — and will add another forward once Emma Meesseman, who won the WNBA Finals MVP in 2019 and has claimed three consecutive EuroLeague Women MVPs, arrives.
But in the present, the Liberty are left needing to figure out how to replicate Stewart’s contributions on the fly.
On offense, Sabrina Ionescu (30 points) and Natasha Cloud (22) provided the blueprint Saturday, with their aggressiveness in the fourth quarter helping the Liberty complete the comeback before falling on a buzzer-beater.
On defense, though, it could be more complicated. Stewart has earned three consecutive All-Defensive First Team nods, and her presence helped the Liberty assemble the league’s No. 3 unit in terms of defensive rating (98.1) entering Sunday’s games.
They struggled defensively against the Sparks, allowing them to shoot over 50 percent and falling behind by as many as 15 points. Los Angeles sank 10 3s in the first half, and after the Liberty adjusted, 32 of the Sparks’ 43 points in the second half occurred inside the paint.
“It was just too many [3-point] shots [in the first half],” Jones said of the defensive breakdowns, “and it wasn’t even just like they were making, like, tough shots. They were just, like, shots that they were walking into. … And we wanted to just be a little bit more aggressive and trust the defense behind us. So that’s what we tried to do, and, I mean, they did a really good job of adjusting and taking what we were giving them. I think we just have to do a better job of coming out at the beginning of games and kinda setting the tone and not allowing teams to kinda get their rhythm and get their confidence.”
The first chance to fix that will unfold Monday night against star rookie Paige Bueckers and a struggling Wings team well outside the playoff picture.
The Liberty will also end the road trip with two games against the last-place Sun. But the first WNBA Finals rematch of the season Wednesday — against the Lynx in Minnesota — will provide both a daunting challenge and a necessary measuring stick.
Stewart is “so versatile” on defense, Fiebich said. She can pressure the ball. She can switch. Any opposing player is a matchup that she can take. Her offensive contributions, even in a year filled with shooting struggles, remain an essential piece of the Liberty’s option.
“Stewie is just Stewie,” Jones said. “… She gets a lot of gravitational pull with her. Teams just scouting her, obviously wanting to stay attached to her. So kinda opens up a lot of things for me in the paint, opens up a lot of things for other players out there. Obviously, she is a facilitator. She is a rim protector.”
But for now, they need to function without that luxury.
