Breanna Stewart totaled 31 points and 10 rebounds as the New York Liberty easily survived the absence of Sabrina Ionescu and rolled to a 106-75 rout of the Connecticut Sun Friday night in New York.

Stewart began her fourth season in New York by shooting 10-of-17 from the floor. Stewart also made 11 of 12 free throws and surpassed 6,000 career points.

Marine Johannes added 17 by hitting five 3-pointers and shooting 6-of-13 from the floor. Betnijah-Laney Hamilton contributed 12 points in her return from knee surgery after missing last season

Julie Vanloo added 12 points after joining New York on a hardship contract. Jonquel Jones chipped in 10 as the Liberty shot 52.2%, hit 10 threes and shot 83.9% (26 of 31) at the free-throw line.

Besides Ionescu, the Liberty were missing Rebecca Allen (left leg) and Satou Sabally (cyst). New York also was without Raquel Carrera and Leonie Fiebich, who were finishing overseas commitments.

Diamond Miller scored 16 in her debut for Connecticut. Aneesah Morrow added 15 and Brittney Griner contributed 13 in her debut for the Sun.

Coming off an 11-33 showing last season, the Sun shot 38.6% and were 4-of-22 from outside the arc. Connecticut also allowed 24 points off 17 turnovers and trailed by as many as 33.

The Liberty took their first double-digit lead when Jones sank a 3 to make it 16-4 halfway through the first quarter. A basket by Vanloo opened a 25-8 lead a little over two minutes later, and Jones sank a layup with 21 seconds left for a 36-13 edge through the opening quarter

The Liberty continued pouring it on by taking a trio of 27-point leads in the first 3:18 of the second. Johannes canned a 29-foot 3-pointer for a 52-26 lead with 3:52 remaining and the Liberty held a 66-37 lead at halftime.

The Sun made a small comeback with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 70-50 on a basket by Griner with 6:11 left in the third. The Liberty quickly restored order, ending the period with an 87-60 lead.

–Field Level Media

Jacob Young hit a two-run home run, Foster Griffin pitched seven strong innings and the Washington Nationals beat the host Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night.

Curtis Mead reached base three times on a double and two walks for Washington, which has won three straight games. The Nationals improved to 13-7 in road games.

All five runs were scored in the first inning.

Griffin (4-1) gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits. He set a career high with nine strikeouts and walked one. Griffin threw 103 pitches and lowered his ERA to 2.12.

Brad Lord got five outs before Javier Sanoja reached on an error by shortstop CJ Abrams in the ninth. PJ Poulin came on and walked Heriberto Hernandez before getting Leo Jimenez to ground into a forceout for his first save.

Xavier Edwards homered and Otto Lopez notched his fifth three-hit game of the season with a double and two singles for the Marlins, who have lost five of six.

Miami starter Robby Snelling (0-1) gave up three runs on five hits over five innings.

The Nationals started strong when Mead doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single by Abrams. Young followed with a long home run to left and Washington led 3-0.

Miami got two back in their half as the first three batters reached against Griffin. Edwards led off with a homer to left center and Lopez followed with a double. Kyle Stowers was safe when first baseman Mead threw high to Griffin covering first, and Lopez came home on the wild throw.

The first two Nationals reached in the second, but Snelling induced a double-play grounder from Keibert Ruiz.

Nasim Nunez walked leading off the Washington seventh and stole second. Mead walked with two outs before Brady House grounded into a force play.

Lopez singled with one out in the eighth inning but was thrown out attempting to steal second.

–Field Level Media

Jalen Brunson scored 33 points as the visiting New York Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 108-94 on Friday to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series.

Mikal Bridges notched 23 points and Landry Shamet chipped in with 15 on 5-of-6 shooting for New York, which played without OG Anunoby (hamstring) but still made plenty of winning plays down the stretch.

The third-seeded Knicks will aim to sweep the best-of-seven series when the teams reconvene for Game 4 on Sunday in Philadelphia.

Kelly Oubre Jr. paced the seventh-seeded Sixers with 22 points, while Tyrese Maxey added 17 on 8-of-12 shooting. Paul George provided 15 points in the first quarter but went scoreless the rest of the way.

The Sixers welcomed Joel Embiid back to the lineup after their standout center missed Game 3 with hip and ankle injuries. Embiid scored 18 points and blocked three shots but grabbed only six rebounds as Philadelphia got trounced 49-33 on the boards.

New York led by 11 early in the fourth quarter before Quentin Grimes made a pair of 3-pointers to bring Philadelphia within 88-84.

However, the Knicks’ trio of Villanova alums each scored a basket to halt the momentum. Josh Hart converted a layup, Bridges sank a jumper and Brunson buried a 3-pointer to make it 95-86. Brunson added two more buckets before Bridges’ transition layup extended the margin to 105-89 with 3:46 left.

George shot 6 of 9 in the opening quarter to help the Sixers lead 31-27 after 12 minutes.

The second quarter was a different story, as New York outscored Philadelphia 33-21. Brunson and Bridges each scored 10 points for the visitors, who shot 57.1% in the period and led 60-52 at the break.

After trailing by 11 early in the third quarter, Philadelphia chipped away and got within 78-76 on Embiid’s bucket with 2:28 left in the period. However, New York dominated the rest of the quarter to create some breathing room.

Mitchell Robinson, a poor foul shooter whom the Sixers fouled intentionally several times in the third quarter, made 2 of 2 from the line. Brunson followed with a pair of free throws and Shamet drained a 3-pointer to send New York into the fourth with an 85-76 lead.

–Field Level Media