The New York Liberty’s early dominance has evaporated. Three straight losses have exposed defensive gaps, with the latest one coming against the Portland Fire on Monday. Following this game, team veteran Breanna Stewart has addressed the team’s losing streak.

“I’m happy it’s happening early and not late,” Stewart said in the post-game press conference while answering a question by Annie Costabile. “I know we did a lot of wrong things tonight. But I thought that our fight and effort was better than it was last night.”

There were several factors outside their control that didn’t go in Liberty’s favor.. Satou Sabally’s early exit derailed Liberty’s depth. She played just 4 minutes before leaving with illness, forcing bench rotation. Later on, it was reported by Annie Costabile that the Liberty forward would not participate further in the game due to an unspecified illness.

On top of that, the Liberty also missed Sabrina Ionescu in the game. The team had decided to rest their veteran perimeter player due to a foot injury. Leonie Fiebich and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton were also out of Liberty’s rotation. Thus, the Liberty was far from full strength

Injuries have been a concern for the Liberty throughout this early stretch of the season. Yet despite that, you’d expect a team that has Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Marine Johannes to win in a difficult stretch. But it wasn’t the case on Monday.

It’s true that the team put on a better performance than Sunday against the Dallas Wings, when they were outplayed by Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Stewart and the team were in the driver’s seat for most of the game. After a 24-point third quarter, the Liberty had taken an 8-point lead going into the fourth.

Han Xu extended the gap to 10 points in the opening minutes of the final quarter through a layup. But the Portland Fire struck back immediately with a 9-0 run to push back the Liberty. Stewart broke the scoring spree with a 4-foot two-pointer. Pauline Astier and Jones also scored in the subsequent plays for the Liberty.

But they just couldn’t keep up with the Fire in the final minutes of the game. Carla Leite and Sarah Ashlee Barker combined for 14 points in the fourth to stitch a stellar 32-point quarter as the Fire clinched a 7-point win over the Liberty. The Liberty’s defense once again proved disappointing.

They allowed the Portland Fire to take 75 shots from the field and 26 from beyond the arc. Liberty failed to make defensive stops, reinforcing why they rank among the worst defenses this season (107.1). The frequent turnovers made things further worse for them.

Breanna Stewart’s team rolled over the ball 19 times in the game. Portland Fire struck back with 23 points off them, capitalizing on any advantage they got. These are some of the issues that the Liberty will have to fix going into the season. It’s still early in the season, as Stewie said, and the Liberty is too good a team to just be on the wrong side of the results.

Before the game, WNBA legend Sue Bird also assured that the NY Liberty doesn’t have to hit the panic button just yet. She stated that everything will fall back in place for them after they get all their players back in the rotation.

“The New York Liberty — I don’t think it’s time to panic,” Bird said via NBC. “They are clearly a team that is still trying to figure things out. They’ve had pieces coming and going, and they finally have their full team. We haven’t actually seen them at full strength.”

As the Liberty’s losing streak continues, it will now be up to the team’s seniors, like Stewie, to regroup the team for the games ahead.

Breanna Stewart Shares a Message to the Locker Room After a Third Straight Loss

The defeat on Monday marked the NY Liberty’s second loss to the Portland Fire this season. The Liberty also lost to the expansion team in the second week of May. This losing streak against the Fire is definitely surprising, given the veteran-stacked side that the Liberty are. Yet despite that, 7-time All-Star Breanna Stewart is hopeful with her team.

“I think it’s a learning experience for everyone,” Stewart said. “I think that my message to the players in the locker room is like, nobody expected this, and not to say that we thought it was gonna be easy, we definitely didn’t. There’s going to be highs and lows, and it seems like we’re in the lows right now.”

It isn’t that the NY Liberty has suddenly forgotten how to play basketball. The team is still one of the most formidable offensive teams in the league. They rank fifth in points per game currently (88.6). Even in the latest defeat to Portland Fire, we saw flashes of it.

Breanna Stewart led the night with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Jonquel Jones and Marine Johannes also scored in double figures in the game as the Liberty nailed 21 of 52 from the field. So, their offensive prowess remains intact, and with players returning from injury, it’s quite certain it will improve even further.

Meanwhile, they will have to focus on making defensive stops and disrupting the team’s offense. The way ahead for them isn’t easy. Stewie and the NY Liberty will face the Phoenix Mercury up next in back-to-back games. They host both of these games at the Barclays Center on May 27 and 29.