Barely a minute into the New York Liberty's final game of the 2025 season, a familiar sight reared its ugly head. One of the team's starters was crumpled on the floor. This time, it was Leonie Fiebich, who was clutching her midsection in pain after taking a knee to the ribs.

It was a cruel reminder of the year that has been for New York, when the good vibes of its title defense lasted all of nine games before the first injury. The hits kept coming, one after another, and when the Liberty desperately needed a stroke of luck in order to continue their season, it wasn't to be found.

As coach Sandy Brondello said near the end of the regular season, "Welcome to the New York Liberty 2025. It's been crazy with these (absences)."

The summation was far different than when Sabrina Ionescu voiced to fans in mid-May during the Liberty's banner-raising ceremony that the goal was to "run it back." Back then, the Liberty were without ailments. Optimism was high. The injury report was blank.

The Liberty's quest to repeat has undoubtedly been marred by injuries as they played just four games all regular season at full health, then saw Breanna Stewart injure her left MCL in the playoff opener.

The toll of those bumps, bruises and breaks was on display Friday night. New York's title defense came up short as the Liberty exited the playoffs in the first round with a 79-73 Game 3 loss to the Phoenix Mercury.

Although Stewart gamely fought through her injury -- she scored at least 30 points for the eighth time in her postseason career -- she didn't get enough help. Stewart was the lone New York player to score in the fourth quarter of an elimination game, as a roster that was touted for its depth turned into The Stewie Show.

Jonquel Jones, the reigning WNBA Finals MVP, was in a funk through September, reaching double-digit points just once in her final eight games. She shot 1 of 10 in Game 3 and missed all of her 3-pointers, including a wide-open look that would have tied the game with 1:38 to play. Midseason acquisition Emma Meesseman never found her footing in the series; the Liberty lost her 40 minutes by 30 points. Sabrina Ionescu was 4 of 20 from 3-point range in the series before settling herself in Game 3, but even she was shut out in the final frame.

"Only one team gets to feel good at the end of their season, and this year we weren't that team," Stewart said.

Of course, New York' s season did not end early solely because of health issues and player absences. Too often, the Liberty didn't play to the standard of a championship team; their execution and effort remained in question through Game 2 of the playoffs.

They went from the best defensive rebounding team in 2024 to ninth in 2025; consequently, they allowed the most second-chance points in the WNBA a year after allowing the fewest. They slipped in points in the paint, second-chance points, fastbreak points and points off turnovers.

Although New York had the talent of a championship team, it couldn't form the necessary chemistry. Shuffling out Kayla Thornton (expansion draft) and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (injury) for Natasha Cloud and Meesseman changed the team identity. The Liberty weren't as big or physical on the perimeter, and they weren't as switchable defensively.

Even in the waning days of the regular season when the Liberty were (mostly) whole, they struggled to jell like a championship-caliber team. After a 17-point road loss on Aug. 30 to the same Mercury team that knocked them out of the postseason -- a defeat which all but ensured New York wouldn't have homecourt advantage in the playoffs -- Stewart acknowledged time was fleeting to make corrections.

Jones (ankle, twice) and Stewart (right knee) each missed 13 regular-season games, causing New York's vaunted frontcourt to become a merry-go-round of lineup combinations. The duo played only 313 minutes together during the regular season, down 600 minutes from 2024. New York used 18 different starting lineups this regular season.

Despite all of the options waiting on the bench, coach Sandy Brondello couldn't find the right combinations. Rebekah Gardner was never a consistent presence despite her defensive impact. As Meesseman and Kennedy Burke struggled -- Burke was 9 of 42 on 3-pointers after returning from a calf strain -- Brondello didn't give Izzy Harrison a chance.

Both Stewart and Ionescu went to bat for Brondello following the loss. The coach's stroke of brilliance to use Nyara Sabally in Game 5 of the 2024 finals is a main reason New York has its lone championship, but it's fair to say she was outcoached in two of the last three postseason defeats.

"We're not gonna be a team that points fingers," Stewart said. "There's a lot of us that could have done better this season. But we're still gonna fight and show up for each other every single day. And I think that's just the most important part. We have Sandy's back."

Stewart and Ionescu also indicated their expectations to return to the Liberty in 2026, but questions linger about the overall makeup of the roster. Laney-Hamilton was sorely missed, and her absence had a trickle-down effect on Leonie Fiebich, who struggled in a larger role.

The expectation is that Jones, historically a playoff killer, can't be as bad as she was in 2025. The former MVP and reigning finals MVP has been the ceiling-raiser for New York over the last three seasons. When she is at her best, like the 2023 commissioner's cup or the 2024 finals, the Liberty are the best team in the league.

The theory of New York doesn't work without Jones' all-around game. Her ability to protect the paint, bruise in the post and also space out is central to the Liberty's versatility.

General manager Jonathan Kolb hasn't been afraid to take big swings before. He targeted Stewart and Jones long before the frontcourt duo ever arrived in New York.

But what happens if that plan no longer works? The Liberty had the DNA of a championship team and couldn't call on it when their season reached gut-check time.

The 2025 experiment didn't succeed, and it wouldn't be in Kolb's character to let this team have another go-round without meaningful changes. Stewart is a generational player in her prime, and he can't, and shouldn't, waste the opportunity to surround her with a title-contending roster. No matter why New York fell short, it's clear that this particular roster construction wasn't good enough.

-- The Athletic's Ben Pickman contributed to this report.

Questions linger after New York Liberty's championship repeat quest ends in disappointment