Breanna Stewart, aiming for playoff atonement, rolls through Aces - ESPN

NEW YORK — Breanna Stewart won the WNBA's MVP award last season but thought her playoff performance wasn't good enough after her New York Liberty lost the WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces — something that stuck hard with Stewart.

«I think I've just kind of grown from it,» Stewart said of her 2023 postseason disappointment. «I've had — unfortunately — a lot of time to reflect on it, and where can I be better. And how to handle things collectively better. But with that, I don't forget who I am and what I can do.»

Lest anyone else forget, Stewart showed them Sunday in the Liberty's 87-77 victory over the Aces in Game 1 of their best-of-five WNBA semifinal series at Barclays Center. Stewart had 34 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, shooting 12 of 19 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line.

It was Stewart's sixth career game of 30-plus points in the playoffs; only Phoenix's Diana Taurasi (8) has more. Stewart's energy getting the Liberty off to a strong start made it a rough day overall for the two-time defending champion Aces.

«She had too many mismatches,» Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said of Stewart's effectiveness, which included 20 first-half points. «We were switching guards on to her and [Jonquel Jones] in that first half, and we're not supposed to do that. And they destroyed us in there, both their bigs.»

Backing up Stewart were guard Sabrina Ionescu (21 points) and forward Jones (13 points, 12 rebounds). Stewart and Ionescu, through scoring and assists, accounted for 62 of the Liberty's 87 points.

«You're trying to dig out of a hole the whole time,» Hammon said. «It's not the way you want to start, especially on the road.»

Historically, WNBA teams that win the first game of a best-of-five series take that series 77%