Liberty's Breanna Stewart starts Game 2 despite knee injury - ESPN

NEW YORK — Liberty star Breanna Stewart started in Game 2 of New York's first-round WNBA playoff series against the Phoenix Mercury after injuring her knee during Game 1 on Sunday.

Stewart went through a full-speed warmup ahead of Wednesday night's game and was evaluated by medical staff, ESPN's Holly Rowe reported.

«They told me that structurally, everything looks OK,» Stewart said during Wednesday morning shootaround at Barclays Center. «So my plan is to go.»

Stewart said an MRI revealed an MCL sprain. She told Rowe she will play as much as she can depending on pain tolerance.

Stewart crumpled to the floor and grabbed her left knee during overtime of Game 1. She left the game with 2:07 remaining and did not return.

«What I felt in the moment scared me more than anything,» the two-time WNBA MVP said. «I'm very happy to have gotten my MRI results back and know that it's something I can play through.»

With a win Wednesday, the fifth-seeded Liberty would advance to the semifinals, where they would play the winner of the Minnesota Lynx-Golden State Valkyries series. A loss would send the best-of-three series back to Phoenix.

Stewart had 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in Game 1, a 76-69 Liberty win in OT.

Stewart leads the Liberty in points per game (18.3), blocks per game (1.4) and steals per game (1.4). She is second in rebounding with 6.6 per game.

«That's a tough motherf---er,» Liberty guard Natasha Cloud said. «That's one of our engines behind the team. So it's a huge relief for us.»