Add The New York Post on Google Breanna Stewart won’t play in the Liberty’s regular season finale Wednesday, and her status for the playoffs is in question.
Stewart initially wasn’t listed on the Liberty’s availability report ahead of their final game against the Atlanta Dream.
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She was downgraded to “questionable” with left knee soreness after shootaround before being officially ruled out about two hours before tipoff.
Coach Chris DeMarco said Stewart not playing was a “precautionary” measure after she woke up with some soreness.
He was noncommittal, though, when asked point-blank about her availability for the playoffs, which begin Sunday.
“I’m not sure yet on the workload piece or the availability,” he said. “It’s soreness right now. The play that happened in the last game, just not feeling great.
“But yeah, hopefully she’ll be ready for the playoffs.”
Stewart appeared to tweak her left knee in the fourth quarter of Monday’s 95-84 loss to the Dream. Stewart was crashing the glass when Rhyne Howard appeared to fall on the Liberty star’s leg.
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. Heather Khalifa for NY Post After Howard was subsequently whistled for a foul, Steward was caught on the TV broadcast flexing her left knee and grimacing in pain during a stoppage in play. She remained in the game for the final 7:26 and finished with a team-high 27 points and 14 rebounds in 37 minutes.
Stewart’s workload has been under a microscope since the 32-year-old captained USA Basketball to its fifth consecutive FIBA World Cup title.
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Stewart averaged 23.1 minutes across those six games.
Less than a week later, she logged 38 minutes to carry New York to a statement win against the Minnesota Lynx in the first game after the break.
Wednesday marked the Liberty’s fourth game in six days. The outcome will determine their seeding. New York can finish as high as fifth and as low as eighth, the final playoff spot.
While the timing of Stewart’s injury is unfortunate, DeMarco believes the Liberty are well versed in adapting on the fly because of previous injury woes.
“Next player up,” he said. “And it’s been something we’ve dealt with all season. We’ll be ready to go.”
Wednesday will be only the second game Stewart will miss this season. She also sat out the Liberty’s June 25 loss in Seattle.
Stewart leads the Liberty in scoring with 20.8 points per game and total blocks with 54. She’s second to only Jonquel Jones in rebounding, averaging 8.3 boards.
