INDIANAPOLIS — This was the version of Breanna Stewart that the Liberty needed.
It was the one that they relied on last year, as Stewart’s MVP season coincided with the Liberty’s run to the WNBA Finals.
It was also the one missing in the season opener, when she collected just eight points even as they still escaped with a win against the Mystics.
But in their 102-66 win over the Indiana Fever on Thursday, spoiling the home opener for Caitlin Clark, Stewart finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds, sparking the Liberty’s efficient offense and following through on her plan to be more aggressive after the underwhelming opener.
After attempting nine shots against Washington, she took 21 Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“Doing whatever I can to put them in the most uncomfortable position that they want to be guarding defensively,” Stewart told reporters postgame. “But in general, I just wanted to come out more aggressive coming off of last game.”
She opened the scoring with a jumper from the left side of the paint, and Stewart remained efficient from that area — connecting on just one 3-pointer and attempting just three.
Eleven of her points came in the first quarter, when the Liberty set the foundation for what eventually became a commanding lead.
Stewart’s jumper with under four minutes left in the second quarter put the Liberty back up by nine, too, and she knew that the Liberty could get “whatever we want” in transition — they finished with 16 transition points compared to Indiana’s two — if they executed properly.
Last year, in the first edition of the Liberty’s superteam, Stewart was often the one carrying the offense at times.
They possessed plenty of options — with Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot all in the starting lineup — but Stewart strung together four 40-point games in the regular season and another three above 30 as the Liberty secured the No. 2 seed in the postseason.
That all helped her win the second MVP of her career, narrowly beating the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas.
And her quest to defend that title took a critical step Thursday after the opener.
“You’re gonna have games where you’re only gonna have eight points, you’re not really in an offensive flow,” Vandersloot told The Post. “And then you’re gonna have games like this. I mean, she’s always a threat. That’s what’s special about her, and when she scores like this, she makes it look easy — but it’s not.”
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