The New York Liberty displayed championship mettle during their opening-round Game 1 playoff win in Phoenix on Sunday evening.

But it may have come at a significant cost.

Natasha Cloud poured in a game-high 23 points against her former team and Breanna Stewart added 18 before leaving the game in overtime due to an apparent knee injury as New York pulled out a gritty 76-69 decision over the Mercury in front of 10,095 fans at PHX Arena.

“Very physical game. It was hard to get from A to B,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello noted in the aftermath of her team’s second straight overtime triumph in the postseason.

“In the end our resiliency paid off … and our experience,” she added.

New York outlasted Minnesota in a Game 5 overtime thriller in last year’s WNBA Finals at Barclays Center to grab

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