Breanna Stewart questionable for Liberty in Game 2 vs. Phoenix

When the Liberty went to Phoenix and took down the Mercury this weekend in Game 1 of their best-of- three first-round playoff series, it was a significant development. Today it appears exponentially bigger.

The defending WNBA champion and No. 5 seed is uncertain if leading scorer Breanna Stewart will be able to play when it tries to finish off the fourth-seeded Mercury in Wednesday’s 8 p.m. Game 2 at Barclays Center. Stewart suffered a left knee injury during overtime of Sunday’s win and had an MRI exam on Monday that resulted in what head coach Sandy Brondello described Tuesday as “relatively clean” results.

Stewart, a three-time WNBA champion who averages 18.3 points, was dressed for Tuesday’s practice but did not participate. She wore a sleeve, not a brace, over the injured knee and did not take questions following practice.

“It’s going to be a game-day, game-time decision,” Brondello said. “Your guess is as good as mine. We’ll see how she goes tomorrow. We’ll give her as much time as we can.”

Stewart had 18 points, six rebounds and four assists playing 40 minutes in regulation and overtime of Game 1. She suffered the injury on a drive where she got fouled, though it didn’t appear to be a result of the contact. She remained in the game briefly, but came out for the final minutes and looked clearly distraught about her condition on the bench.

Competing without key players became a theme for the Liberty this season. Stewart missed 13 games with a right knee bone bruise, Jonquel Jones missed 13 with an ankle injury and Sabrina Ionescu missed a handful with a toe injury.

The Liberty went 27-17 in the regular season, but 5-8 when Stewart was sidelined.

“We're not seeing anything that we haven't seen,” Ionescu said. “That’s the beauty [of] the struggle during that time. It's kind of paid off [for] a moment like now, when there's uncertainty and you're not sure what's going to happen. This group has been able to continue to find different combinations and play with one another and has built great chemistry . . . The regular season really prepared us for this moment, and we got to control the things that we can. Go out there and win on our home court.”

Asked about the prospect of facing the Mercury without Stewart, Jones replied, “I think it's been the M.O. of our season this year — just facing adversity — that’s just kind of the way it's been. We've done a really good job in the season of staying together and learning from it and being in that position.”

The Liberty haven’t been able to start the lineup envisioned at season’s start very often because of the injuries but hasn’t lost when it’s been able to, going 12-0 in the regular season and winning on Sunday. Whether Stewart can play of not, the Liberty want to seize the chance to close out the series in front of a Barclays Center crowd where they are 17-5.

“We’re ready to go,” Brondello said. “Stewie’s in, Stewie’s out. We’re ready to go. We know what’s at stake. We don’t want to go back to Phoenix, but they’re going to come in hungry. We know that.”

Wings' Bueckers named Rookie of the Year

Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers was a runaway choice for WNBA Rookie of the Year after one of the best debut seasons in league history.Bueckers received 70 of the 72 votes from sports writers and broadcasters in balloting announced by the league.  Bueckers, who in a whirlwind week last spring went from leading UConn to its 12th national championship to being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick, was a bright spot on a team that tied the Chicago Sky with a league-worst 10-34 record. The AP Rookie of the Year, she averaged 19.2 points on 47.7% shooting along with 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals.

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.