Liberty vs. Lynx: Breanna Stewart Scores 34 as No. 8 New York Wins First Round Game 1 at Top-Seeded Minnesota

Napheesa Collier knows Breanna Stewart's game about as well as anyone on the planet. They were college teammates. They are friends. Collier was the 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. And on Sunday afternoon at Target Center, with Collier guarding her for most of the day, Stewart still poured in 34 points and 12 rebounds like the assignment was a minor scheduling conflict.

That was the whole plot of the New York Liberty's 91-75 win over the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series. The No. 8 seed walked into the building of the team with the league's best regular-season record, trailed at halftime, and then spent the second half turning Minnesota's home floor into a Stewie highlight package. New York leads 1-0 and can finish this thing at home on Tuesday.

A First Half That Settled Nothing

The opening minutes went exactly how the bracket said they should. Minnesota jumped out to a 6-0 lead in front of 12,339 fans. Then New York answered with a 15-0 run that flipped the score to 15-6 before the Lynx could find their footing. The Liberty led 25-18 after one quarter.

Minnesota punched back. An 8-0 Lynx run in the second quarter turned a 27-18 deficit into a 27-26 game, and the Lynx won the period 26-15 to take a 44-40 lead into the break. On paper, that was a good half for the home team. Cheryl Reeve was not fooled.

"I thought we even struggled in the first half even though we had a lead," the Lynx coach said. "It was a little too much grinding. I think there's some easier things we can do."

The Second Half Was a Liberty Takeover

New York came out of the locker room and won the third quarter 25-16, turning a four-point hole into a 65-60 lead heading to the fourth. Then the Liberty won the fourth 26-15, and the last stretch was pure Stewart.

With 4:07 left, she buried a 23-foot 3-pointer off a Sabrina Ionescu feed to make it 82-68. Half a minute later she floated in an 8-footer, Ionescu assisting again. At 2:49, Ionescu splashed a 26-footer of her own. That 8-0 burst made it 87-68, a 19-point cushion that matched New York's biggest lead of the afternoon, and the rest was just paperwork.

Stewie Was the Whole Show

Stewart shot 11 of 18 from the floor, 2 of 3 from deep and 10 of 12 from the line, and added six assists, two steals and two blocks in 38 minutes. Per the AP, her 34 left her two points short of New York's franchise record for points in a playoff game, and her postseason scoring average already ranks second-highest among all players in league history. The two-time league MVP played like a video game final boss with a bonus health bar.

"She's a walking mismatch," Ionescu said.

The less polite version: Minnesota only found expensive answers. Reeve's biggest gripe was how often her team sent Stewart to the stripe. "We did a solid job in the first half and then we just fouled, fouled, fouled," she said. "We can't give her 12 free throws. Fouling at the end of the shot clock is just not smart."

The supporting cast showed up, too. Leonie Fiebich was nearly perfect, going 6 of 7 from the floor and 4 of 5 from 3 for 16 points, with eight rebounds and a team-best plus-21. Ionescu scored 13 with six assists despite a 4-for-14 shooting day. Pauline Astier stuffed the box with seven points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Han Xu was a plus-13 in 12 minutes off the bench.

Jonquel Jones, who the AP said was playing through an ankle injury, scored eight, so New York leaned on the 3-ball instead. Stewart said that was the plan all along. "We knew the shots that we were going to get," she said, adding that the team had "a few days to really practice that and be intentional."

Minnesota Ran Out of Answers

Nia Brodie was the best thing that happened to the Lynx. She came off the bench for 16 points in 19 minutes on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4 of 5 from deep. Kayla McBride started 0 for 5 from deep and still worked her way to 14. After that, it got thin.

Collier managed 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting and was a minus-23, and both she and Natasha Howard were saddled with five fouls. Olivia Miles, the rookie star, never found a rhythm in her first playoff game, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting, eight rebounds and one assist. Courtney Williams went 3 for 12 for nine points.

The Turning Point

Halftime. The Lynx went to the locker room up four with the crowd behind them, and New York won the next 20 minutes by 20 points. Minnesota's defense got grabby, Stewart got to the line, and a home team that had spent the first half grinding suddenly had nothing easy left.

Stats That Matter

• 13 of 25: New York's 3-point shooting, a cool 52%. Minnesota went 9 of 26.
• 38-23: The Liberty's rebounding edge, built on 33 defensive boards to Minnesota's 18.
• 10 of 12: Stewart's free throws. The entire Lynx roster went 10 of 13.
• 25-20: New York's assist advantage, even with 21 turnovers dragging on the offense.

What It Means

New York leads the series 1-0 and hosts Game 2 on Tuesday with a chance to end Minnesota's season. The Lynx have to win to drag the series back to Target Center for a Game 3 on Thursday.

Minnesota finished the regular season 33-11, the best mark in the league. New York finished 26-18 and entered the playoffs having dropped its last two regular-season games, both to Atlanta. So much for momentum mattering. The Liberty also won the regular-season series against Minnesota 2-1, so none of this should have come as a total shock.

There is plenty of shared history here. Two years ago, New York won its first WNBA championship at Minnesota's expense in a five-game Finals. Last year, the Liberty were knocked out in the first round by Phoenix.

Closing Take

Stewart remembers how that Phoenix series went. Per the AP, she brought up last year's overtime win in Phoenix that was followed by a 26-point loss in New York, and she made sure nobody in her locker room got comfortable.

"This doesn't mean relax," Stewart said.

It is the oldest rule of every heist movie: the first part of the job always goes smoothly. Getting out of the building is the hard part. New York has one more door to get through.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press.