Though Thursday started off on the wrong foot, it ended as positively as the Liberty could have hoped.
“I wish I didn’t have to give this update,” said Sandy Brondello as she sat down at the pregame presser before the New York Liberty took on the Washington Mystics on Thursday night, “but unfortunately, we have a few people out tonight.”
The bubbly head coach rattled off the injury report with the tone of a lethargic school principal reading off the daily announcements: Sabrina Ionescu avoided “major injury,” but hurt her toe on the last play of Wednesday practice and would be out, as would Natasha Cloud with a minor fracture in her nose, as would Nyara Sabally as expected, as would Jonquel Jones, who woke up too sick to play on West Indian Night, of all nights…
“Welcome to the New York Liberty, 2025,” said Brondello through a pained smile.
Even Mystics Head Coach Sydney Johnson felt some sympathy for his star-studded opponent upon learning the news ten minutes later: “I mean this sincerely, that’s tough for them. Those are big time players. That’s a wonderful team they have, and Sabrina and JJ are among the brightest stars.”
Earlier on Thursday, I wrote that this just doesn’t feel like New York’s year. Of course, with Breanna Stewart back and six more games to go in the regular season, the Liberty still have the chance to put their supreme talent together. Their issues are not unconquerable. But it’s tough to imagine a worse start to their stretch run than Thursday’s injury report.
And yet, they still closed as eight-point favorites over the 16-22 Mystics; there are worse starting lineups Marine Johannès, Breanna Stewart, Kennedy Burke, Emma Meesseman, and Leonie Fiebich. But those five, not lacking in size, surrendered five offensive rebounds before the first media timeout, and would wind up losing the quarter 20-18. It was a microcosm of the Liberty’s season, underperforming in key areas even with the deck stacked against them.
A relatively subdued Barclays Center crowd sank back in their seats for what was sure to another grind-fest. Even with exciting rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen leading Washington in scoring, the Liberty clearly had more talent. But that wouldn’t be enough on its own.
But on Thursday night, in a spot that begged their depth to step up, the reserves did just that. Isabelle Harrison, returning to the lineup after seven concussion-related absences, Rebekah Gardner, and Stephanie Talbot, filled out New York’s eight-man rotation to the best of their abilities. Perhaps it wasn’t that surprising; they may have the six freshest legs on the team.
Harrison scored nine points in the second quarter, creating the initial separation that New York would never relinquish. Ultimately, she’d lead the team with 16 points on the night, hitting a couple threes and even creating some of her own offense.…
“It feels great,” said Harrison of her retrun. “It sucked being on the sidelines and seeing my teammates struggling, knowing I couldn’t do anything. Especially having JJ out, I wanted to bring more aggressiveness and the rebounding we need to consistently have.”
Stephanie Talbot added 11/5/5, nailing a couple threes, while Bek Gardner scored eight points and three rebounds, but made a number of impact plays outside the box score in her 14 minutes, particularly on defense. It’s no coincidence that those reserves have been part of the ‘Stay Ready’ group in recent days, getting extra work in and even playing 3-on-3 after practice on Wednesday.
“They’re being professional and staying ready,” said Brondello. “It doesn’t matter that, maybe, you haven’t played as many minutes as you would like in some of the games. It’s always about being prepared for when your number is called … credit to all them putting in the hard work.”
Those three were largely responsible for New York’s six-point lead at the half, as well as Emma Meesseman, whose teammates found her against every switch when she checked back into the game, including this highlight pass from Marine Johannès…
With Meesseman, Johannès, and the three reserves driving the bus, Sandy Brondello could actually afford to keep Stewart below her allotted 25 minutes, easing her back into play. Part of that was Washington’s flabby defense, which declined to apply much pressure at the point-of-attack. In Ionescu’s absence, Johannès handled the rock comfortably, and even Gardner capably stepped into some ball-handling duties.
Behind a balanced attack, and more consistent perimeter defense on Sonia Citron, who scored just three of her 18 points in the second half, New York’s lead grew exponentially. Single-digits crept up to the teens, and by the fourth quarter, the lead was in the 20s. With the calming knowledge that the injuries to Ionescu and Cloud aren’t supposed to be “major” — knock on wood — and Jones is merely sick, Liberty fans were free to enjoy a surprising blowout. It helped that the non-Citron Mystics shot 1-of-17 from three, even with the Libs playing plenty of zone, but it must be noted Washington grabbed just one o-board after the first quarter.
“I thought our man-to-man defense wasn’t spectacular,” admitted Brondello postgame. “The zone helped, and that’s what we did. So, mixing it up a little bit, you know, it was good to get some more experiences in the zone. We haven’t done that a lot recently, but yeah, just more attention to detail.”
An easy win over a bad team — that played one of their worst games of the season — where players that won’t see heavy minutes in the playoffs doesn’t change everything. It may not feel anymore like the Liberty’s season than it did before they stomped the Mystics. Natasha Cloud posted from home how proud she was…
…and it felt easy to give the Liberty the benefit of the doubt. Winning cures all, though this has to be the new standard; there isn’t enough time for anything less.
But Thursday started out dreadfully, with one of the most depressing injury reports of the season. It ended with the home crowd serenading Isabelle Harrison with “IZ-ZY” chants, celebrating the team’s biggest margin of victory in nearly three months. There is hope, after all.
Final Score: New York Liberty 89, Washington Mystics 63
Next Up
The Liberty head out West for three contests, and the first game is the toughest. They’ll take on the Phoenix Mercury, who they trail in the loss column by one game, on Saturday evening at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Category: General Sports
