The New York Liberty can close out their first-round series with the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, but they might have to do it without leading scorer Breanna Stewart.

According to reports, the two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player was slated to undergo an MRI on Monday after injuring her left leg during Sunday’s 76-69 overtime win in Phoenix. Stewart piled up 16 points, six rebounds and four assists while playing 40 of a possible 45 minutes.

Stewart sustained the injury with 3:01 left in overtime. She drove down the baseline and banked in a layup while running into Phoenix’s Satou Sabally, who tried to take a charge but was called for the foul. Stewart fell into the lane, clutching her left knee and shaking her head in anguish.

During a subsequent timeout, the 31-year-old forward limped to the bench without assistance. She returned to play three more possessions, but came out of the game with the Liberty leading 72-65 with 2:07 to go.

Stewart led the Liberty during the regular season in scoring (18.3 points per game), blocks (1.4 bpg) and steals (1.4 spg) while ranking second in rebounds (6.5 rpg).

If Stewart cannot play in Game 2 and going forward, the Liberty’s regular-season results suggest they will struggle without her. In the 31 games Stewart played, New York posted a 22-9 record. In the 13 games she missed due to a bone bruise on her right knee, the Liberty went 5-8.

–Field Level Media

The Las Vegas Aces haven’t lost in more than six weeks, and next on the agenda is wrapping up their first-round playoff series against the host Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.

Second-seeded Las Vegas rolled to a 102-77 result in Sunday’s Game 1 of the best-of-three series. That was the team’s 17th straight victory, which includes the last 16 games of the regular season.

But don’t mention that streak to A’ja Wilson, who could be closing in on winning her fourth MVP award.

“We’re not going to continue to look at the streak,” Wilson said. “In my eyes, the streak was over at the end of the regular season.”

Wilson recorded 29 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a Game 1 that Las Vegas led by as many as 32 points.

The Aces are 7-0 in first-round games under Becky Hammon, but the Las Vegas coach isn’t interested in that discussion either.

“It’s the first to nine wins,” Hammon said of this season’s tournament. “That’s how we want to approach it. I talk to them about win the moment, be present in the moment. The next play doesn’t care about the last play.”

Jackie Young put together a solid all-around Game 1 with 18 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals. She knocked down four of Las Vegas’ 14 3-pointers.

“We came out locked in on the defensive end, that’s the biggest thing for us,” Young said. “Whenever we’re locked in on the defensive end, we can play at the pace we want to play at.”

The seventh-seeded Storm were never in the game Sunday and trailed 45-25 by halftime.

“You can’t score 12 and 13 points in the first half on the road against a team that’s red-hot,” said Seattle coach Noelle Quinn, quoting her team’s point totals in the first and second quarters.

Storm star Nneka Ogwumike didn’t like what she witnessed from the outset.

“They were ready. I felt they were more ready than we were when we started the game,” said Ogwumike, who had 11 points and eight rebounds. “We had an idea of what we wanted to do but they did what they wanted to do to start the game off.”

Gabby Williams led Seattle with 16 points. She’s well aware another loss ends her team’s season.

“It’s one game,” Williams said of the rough performance. “We have another day to live.”

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Dream have been one of the biggest surprises in the WNBA this season.

They won 30 regular-season games, double their total from a year ago, and they tied for the league’s second-best record while earning the No. 3 playoff seed.

The Dream claimed their first playoff victory since 2018 by beating the visiting Indiana Fever 80-68 on Sunday. Now Atlanta can win a playoff series for the first time since 2016 if they beat the Fever in Game 2 on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

“This wasn’t going to be a year that we were going to be satisfied with everybody telling us, ‘Wow, you really improved over last year,'” Dream first-year coach Karl Smesko said. “That’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to be the best team in the league. We’re trying to win the championship. We weren’t going to let a year go by where we didn’t go for it.”

Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard each scored 20 points and Naz Hillmon added 16 to lead the Dream in Game 1.

Atlanta held the short-handed Fever — playing without All-Star guard Caitlin Clark and four others that have sustained season-ending injuries — to their fifth-lowest point total of the season.

“The only thing that carries over to the next game is the win,” Smesko said. “The job is not done in this series.”

No. 6 seed Indiana will try to find more balance in its offense. Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points in Game 1, but only one teammate reached double figures — Odyssey Sims, with 10 points.

“We know the playoffs are a whole new ball game, way more physicality,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance to do what we wanted to do. We shot ourselves in the foot in a lot of different areas that impact being able to make plays and do what you want to do on the offensive end. Once we stop doing that, we give ourselves a better chance to be who we are offensively.”

Fever coach Stephanie White, noting the resilience of her team through all of its injuries, said the shortcomings in Game 1 are fixable.

“It’s a lot of little things,” White said. “I like where we are. We’re going to be better on Tuesday.”

They’ll look to even the series against the Dream, who were tied for the best away record in the league this season at 14-8.

–Field Level Media

USA Basketball appointed former WNBA Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne as its first managing director for the 3×3 women’s national team Monday.

Delle Donne officially retired earlier this year — she hadn’t played since 2023 due in part to health concerns — and now the longtime Washington Mystics star will take on an active role in guiding Team USA’s efforts in women’s 3×3 hoops.

“USA Basketball was an important part of my on-court career for a decade and a half. To have the opportunity to continue my journey with the organization, and to help shape and grow the 3×3 program, is something that I take very seriously,” Delle Donne said in a news release. “Thank you to USA Basketball for trusting me with this role. I’m excited to get started.”

Delle Donne was unanimously approved by the governing body’s board of directors and rounds out a group of ex-players in key leadership roles at USA Basketball.

Grant Hill has served as the managing director of the men’s national team since 2021; Jimmer Fredette was named the 3×3 men’s national team’s managing director in May; and Sue Bird was selected as the first managing director of the women’s national team, also in May.

Delle Donne will soon “identify USA 3×3 Women’s National Team coaching staff and players,” according to USA Basketball. The biggest international competition on the horizon, of course, is the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Team USA also competes in FIBA competitions like the 3×3 World Cup, the 3×3 Champions Cup and the 3×3 AmeriCup.

Three-on-three basketball, officially abbreviated as 3×3, was first staged at the Olympics in 2020. The United States women’s team won gold that year but settled for Bronze last year in Paris, when Germany took gold.

Delle Donne, 36, spent her 10-season WNBA career with the Chicago Sky (2013-16) and Mystics (2017-19, 2021-23), with whom she won the 2019 WNBA title along with her second MVP award following her first award in 2015.

A member of the WNBA 25th Anniversary Team and the first WNBA player to post a 50-40-90 shooting season, Delle Donne averaged 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game for her career.

–Field Level Media

Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton was named WNBA Most Improved Player by a landslide margin on Monday.

Burton received 68 of 72 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters after posting career highs of 11.9 points, 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals while starting all 44 games for the expansion franchise.

Last season, Burton averaged 3.1 points, 1.9 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 31 games for the Connecticut Sun. According to the WNBA, she is the first player to increase her averages by at least five rebounds, two assists and two rebounds from one season to the next among players to compete in a minimum of 30 games both seasons.

Burton, 25, helped Golden State (23-21) become the first WNBA expansion team to the reach the playoffs.

Azura Stevens (two votes) of the Los Angeles Sparks, Allisha Gray (one) of the Atlanta Dream and Natisha Hiedeman (one) of the Minnesota Lynx also received votes.

Burton started just 20 games over her first three seasons before breaking out this year.

Burton was a first-round pick of the Dallas Wings in 2022 and averaged 2.6 points as a rookie and 2.4 points in 2023. She started just once in 31 games for Connecticut last season.

She was selected in the expansion draft by the Valkyries and things came together. She made 61 3-pointers after making a combined 38 over her first three seasons, and she racked up 50 steals and 27 blocked shots on the defensive side.

According to the WNBA, Burton will receive $5,150 and a trophy in recognition of the achievement.

–Field Level Media