Breanna Stewart 's absence proved to be damaging to the New York Liberty's quality of play after their matchup against the Atlanta Dream on Saturday evening.

Stewart suffered a knee injury during the Liberty's contest against the Los Angeles Sparks on July 26. She has been on the sidelines since then, missing 13 consecutive games.

The team has gone 5-8 since she went down with the injury, impacting their place in the standings. Their defensive quality even took a big hit , as reporter Madeline Kenney noted.

“The Liberty's defensive rating before Breanna Stewart's injury was 97.2. Since she went down with the bone bruise, New York's defensive rating has ballooned to 106.8 — fourth-worst mark in the league since July 26,” Kenney wrote.

How Liberty played against Dream without Breann

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