Liberty vs. Mystics: Breanna Stewart's Career-High 7 Blocks Send New York to the Commissioner's Cup Final

Breanna Stewart was not so much playing at Barclays Center on Sunday as she was installed there, somewhere between the Mystics and the rim, like a piece of very expensive security equipment. She blocked seven shots, the most of her career, and by the time she was finished the Liberty had booked a trip to a championship game.

New York beat the Washington Mystics 86-64 to clinch the East's spot in the Commissioner's Cup final and win its seventh straight. Stewart added 14 points and 12 rebounds to all those swats. As a bonus, the Liberty finally had everybody in uniform for the first time this season, with Sabrina Ionescu back after sitting out seven games with back soreness.

A Slow Burn, Then a 12-0 Exit

Washington actually led 10-6 early, and it would never lead by more than four. New York answered with eight straight to go up 14-10. Ionescu checked in midway through the quarter to a loud ovation and immediately started threading passes, the third of which found Leonie Fiebich for an open 3 and a 20-13 lead. The Liberty went 6-of-10 from deep in the period, with two of those from Han Xu, and held the Mystics to 5-of-16 from the floor.

Another 8-0 run reaching into the second made it 22-13, and then the offense went quiet for a while. New York scored 16 in the quarter. Washington could not make them pay, going 1-of-9 from 3 in the first half, largely because Stewart was busy assembling a truly silly 20 minutes: 11 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. The Liberty say she is the first player since 2018 to post that line in a half. New York led 36-28 at the break.

The third began sluggishly enough that coach Chris DeMarco burned a timeout. Jonquel Jones answered by scoring the next seven New York points and getting the lead into double figures, and she finished the period with 12. A 12-0 run from 1:07 of the third to 7:09 of the fourth then turned 58-50 into 70-50, and the rest was a formality. New York scored 23 in the fourth to Washington's 14.

Stewart's Block Party Had a Long Guest List

Stewart's night came with a stack of paperwork. The double-double was the 100th of her career, ninth-most in WNBA history according to the team, and the Liberty say nobody had recorded seven blocks in a game since 2024. It was also her third game with at least five blocks as a Liberty player, the most in franchise history. Along the way she moved ahead of Lisa Leslie (6,263) for 13th in WNBA career scoring and Taj McWilliams-Franklin (443) for 12th in blocks. That is a full season's worth of trivia for one Sunday afternoon.

Jones led all scorers with 20 on 7-of-11 shooting, including 17 after halftime, and she threw in three steals and two blocks for good measure. Her four rebounds moved her past Vickie Johnson for third in franchise history.

Ionescu's line looks modest until you read the fine print: five points on 1-of-4 shooting with three rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes, but a game-best plus-18. It was just her second game of the season. She also grabbed her 1,000th career rebound, and the team says nobody in WNBA history has reached the 3,000-point, 1,000-rebound, 1,000-assist combination faster. She did it in her 183rd game, 60 games ahead of runner-up Jackie Young.

Everybody ate. All 11 Liberty players who appeared scored at least four points, which the team says had never happened in franchise history.

Washington's bright spot was Michaela Onyenwere, who scored 17 on 7-of-10 and was the only Mystic on the right side of the plus-minus at plus-4. Sonia Citron added 12. Everyone else seemed to run into a wall: Shakira Austin went 3-of-12, and Angela Dugalic went 2-of-11 with five turnovers. Georgia Amoore missed all five of her shots in 16 minutes.

The Timeout That Changed the Temperature

This one flipped coming out of DeMarco's third-quarter timeout. Until then the Liberty had been comfortable without being convincing, and a Washington team fresh off Friday's 86-85 win over Toronto was hanging around. Jones' seven straight points ended that. From there, New York's offense finally matched its defense, shooting 15-of-23 after halftime, its best half of 2026 per the team.

The blocks tell only part of the story. When a defense has a player who can erase anything at the rim, every drive gets a second thought and every floater gets a little higher. Washington took 71 shots and made 24. That is what a rim protector does even when she doesn't touch the ball.

Stats That Matter

• 10 blocks: A Liberty season high. Paired with nine steals, it was only the second time in franchise history New York reached both numbers in a game, per the team.
• 33.8 percent: Washington's shooting, the lowest by any New York opponent this season.
• 23-13: New York's edge in points off turnovers, with 18 Washington giveaways.
• 19-of-22: The Liberty at the line, against 9-of-16 for the Mystics.
• 64: Washington's lowest point total of the year, according to the Liberty.

What It Means

New York is 10-4 overall and 6-3 at home, and those seven straight wins came after a 3-4 start. The Liberty now wait on the rest of the bracket for the June 30 final. Per the AP, this is their third trip to the Cup title game, with one win and one loss in the first two, and whether they host will depend on which finalist has the better overall record. Washington dropped to 5-7 and 3-4 on the road. The Liberty visit Chicago on Wednesday, while the Mystics go to Connecticut.

For most of this season, New York has been an Avengers movie missing half the cast. On Sunday everybody finally made the call sheet, and the first thing they did was clinch a spot in a final. The rest of the league should probably watch the sequel with some concern.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game notes from the New York Liberty. Additional details as reported by the Associated Press.