Liberty brush off concerns over banged-up stars before playoffs

MINNEAPOLIS — The Liberty are heading into the playoffs with two of their biggest stars at the center of concern. Breanna Stewart is expected to play Sunday in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Lynx after sitting out the Libs’ regular-season finale Wednesday with left knee soreness.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.Meanwhile, Jonquel Jones’ status is far less certain after she rolled her left ankle in the last game. Coach Chris DeMarco previously described Stewart’s absence as precautionary, though he stopped short of guaranteeing her availability for the playoffs. Speaking Saturday for the first time since she was downgraded to “out” for that last game, Stewart told The Post she feels “incredible” and “great.” She acknowledged she had some swelling in her knee after Rhyne Howard accidentally fell into her in the Liberty’s second-to-last game.

Stewart said she felt something get pulled in a “weird” way but downplayed the severity. Stewart and Jones were “almost” full participants Saturday in the Liberty’s final tuneup ahead of the playoffs, according to DeMarco. Despite the injury designation, Jones said, “I feel good.” As for whether she’ll play, she said, “We’re working through it.We’ll see.” Jones punctuated those words with what appeared to be a sly smile. Jones was listed as “questionable” on the Liberty’s injury report. All in all, talk about a sigh of relief for the Liberty, who have been riddled with injuries this season. “It’s scary end of the year,” DeMarco said.

“You want to be fully healthy going into the playoffs and so even the other night, the tweak with JJ’s ankle, and of course, it’s scary but we feel good.We feel like we’re gonna be healthy going in.” The Lynx were also dealing with some injury concerns heading into the postseason. Oli...