Breanna Stewart's absence proved to be damaging to the New York Liberty's quality of play after their matchup against the Atlanta Dream on Saturday evening.
Stewart suffered a knee injury during the Liberty's contest against the Los Angeles Sparks on July 26. She has been on the sidelines since then, missing 13 consecutive games.
The team has gone 5-8 since she went down with the injury, impacting their place in the standings. Their defensive quality even took a big hit, as reporter Madeline Kenney noted.
“The Liberty's defensive rating before Breanna Stewart's injury was 97.2. Since she went down with the bone bruise, New York's defensive rating has ballooned to 106.8 — fourth-worst mark in the league since July 26,” Kenney wrote.
How Liberty played against Dream without Breanna Stewart
The Liberty's defensive struggles without Breanna Stewart were on full display after their 78-62 loss to the Dream.
New York got off to a poor start, trailing 24-14 after the first quarter. Things got worse in the following period, going down 48-29 at halftime. The team couldn't recover from their early woes, being unable to cut into the deficit against a solid Atlanta squad.
Rebounding, perimeter shooting and turnovers played significant roles in the matchup. The Dream won all three categories as they got 42 rebounds and made 10 3-pointers while committing just five turnovers. It wasn't the same for the Liberty, having 33 rebounds and six made triples while giving up the ball 13 times.
Only three players scored in double-digits on New York's behalf. Kennedy Burke led the way with 13 points and six rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. Jonquel Jones came next with 11 points and eight rebounds, Emma Meesseman had 10 points and four rebounds, while Leonie Fiebich provided eight points and three assists.
New York fell to a 22-15 record on the season, holding the second spot of the Eastern Conference standings. They are two games behind the Dream for the top seed.
The Liberty will look to bounce back in their next matchup, being at home. They host the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. ET.
