New York Liberty pull away against Indiana Fever in Jonquel Jones’ return, win 98-84

The New York Liberty are back to having the best vibes in the basketball, and all it took was the return of a Finals MVP, and the addition of another.

The New York Liberty are riding high. Over a short All-Star break, they added former Fnals MVP Emma Meesseman and Stephanie Talbot, but not before Sabrina Ionescu won yet another 3-Point Contest and Natasha Cloud the Skills Contest. More importantly, the Liberty were riding a three-game winning streak into the season’s second half.

But MOST importantly, they welcomed a healthy Jonquel Jones back into the fold on Tuesday evening, playing the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever to open post All-Star play.

Of course, Jonquel Jones hit a corner three to open the scoring, and it felt like New York was en route not to just one dominant win, but a dominant title defense…

Such extreme reactions, of course, are not how the WNBA works. The Liberty didn’t even win the first half; the Fever took a 46-42 lead into the break, displaying the impenetrable defense that led them to a Commissioner’s Cup Championship this season, where they were also missing Clark.

Aari McDonald harassed Sabrina Ionescu into a 1-of-9 start from the floor, and Ionescu did not respond to the ball pressure very well. She forced up some tough looks, and drove into the paint to shoot, not to pass.

But Indiana deserves most of the credit here. They didn’t switch a ton of screens, instead fighting through them and limiting advantages for the Liberty, who relied on some impressive individual bucket-getting early on, but didn’t have a ton of flow.

That continued into the third quarter, as they faced a 67-60 deficit with three minutes to go in the period. Their offense was surviving, if not thriving, but defensively, New York was not sharp on the perimeter. They couldn’t funnel drives toward their huge help defenders, and Indiana made them pay for plenty of breakdowns…

Only there did the championship-caliber New York Liberty show up. Threes were going in, as they were all game, but the defensive intensity picked up. New York got run-outs thanks to the strength of their defense, while Jones did what she did best.

The reigning Finals MVP played just 23 minutes on Tuesday, but put up 18 points and nine boards in that truncated time. Post-ups vs. switches, rebounding, three 3-pointers, the whole thing…

“She does everything. She does everything for us,” said Sandy Brondello postgame.

Jones revealed some of her own challenges in returning to play: “It was obviously difficult to, you know, not be able to suit up, and just having to go through all of the rehab processes and stuff like that, and knowing that you weren’t going to play. So there was a little bit of ups and downs emotionally, I’m not gonna lie. But you know, all my teammates were there for me and constantly talking to me.”

And on the court Tuesday, Jones lifted up her teammates, but they had her back too. With Nyara Sabally out, Isabelle Harrison played 17 strong minutes as the backup center. She put up a season-high 13 points and five boards, missing just one shot and continuing to exceed all expectations when the Liberty signed her as perhaps the 11th woman on the roster this offseason…

Said Jones of her backup: “You see the difference when a player that’s been in the system a while and like, really understands the expectations, the movements, the ways that they can affect the game. And I think you really see that with Izzy now, is that she’s really feeling it, and she understands what we’re trying to do.”

In the end, it ended up being a total team win for the Liberty. From the bigs in Jones and Harrison, to Stewie’s all-around impact, to Leonie Fiebich refusing to miss shots (a crisp 5-of-7 for 17 points), to Sabrina Ionescu finally heating up and hitting some daggers…

Brondello was on the money postgame, when she explained that the true difference in the second half came on defense: “I think it was doing our work earlier, playing a little bit more physical, staying true to our principles, which is what we didn’t do in the first half. Communicating, being on the same page.”

Indeed, the Fever scored just three points in a seven-minute stretch that spanned the third and fourth quarters, and that was the ballgame. At 16-6, led by some of the brightest stars in the world and in an environment that players can’t get enough, things aren’t so bad in Liberty World.

But you probably knew that already.

Final Score: New York Liberty 98, Indiana Fever 84

Injury Report

It looked like the Liberty were finally going to have a clean bill of health. But after Nyara Sabally was a non-participant in shootaround on Tuesday morning, you knew something was up.

A few hours later, she was listed as OUT with “rest” against Indiana, still a worrisome designation given a balky right knee that kept her out for six games at the start of the season. Sure enough, Sandy Brondello cited a bit of “discomfort” for Sabally (which is not the same as rest) in pregame.

“It was more like, ‘Well, guess what? We’ve got two games coming up, so let’s just get you ready for Friday and be smart.’ We’re always about big picture, making sure we’re taking care of the athlete. And, you know, she’s getting good treatment. We plan to have her back on Friday.”

Let’s hope so.

Liberty welcome new additions

Emma Meesseman has committed to sign with the New York Liberty, just as soon as her visa application is taken care of. But that commitment means the Liberty can comment on her return to the WNBA, and just how excited they are to welcome the former Finals MVP into the fold.

“To add someone like Emma, that’s pretty exciting,” said Sandy Brondello pregame. “She’s a great player. I think she’ll fit into the system very easily with the way that we play as a team at both ends of the floor, but, you know, you still have to put it all together.”

As for Meesseman, she hasn’t publicly commented on the news, but General Manager Jonathan Kolb surmised why a player of a her caliber may want to join the Liberty: “I think from my purview, she wants to win, she wants to win a championship. That’s her number-one goal. And so, I think that she looked at our roster and saw a lot of familiarity from her past. There’s a lot of players she’s played with recently.”

Nearly half the roster, to be exact: Jones, Stewart, Cloud, Gardner, and Sabally are all former teammates for Meesseman, and she’s previously been coached by both Sandy Brondello and Olaf Lange.

We don’t, however, have to speculate on why Stephanie Talbot signed in New York She was available at shootaround on Tuesday, before playing __ minutes against Indy, and offered some perspective into her short-lived free agency after getting waived by the Golden State Valkyries: “I think the main reason is the easy transition, and also being able to go back and play my natural position as a guard. I think, at Golden State, I played a lot as a as a power forward or a post player.”

Talbot is referring to her long-time connection with Sandy Brondello on the Australian national team. As for the Liberty’s interest, Kolb put it succinctly: “I think we know the type of players we like: positional size, ability to stretch the floor, but also be switchable defensively, and also hold their own, guarding up. I think that Steph is able to do that.”

Next Up

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

A matchup with the dreaded Phoenix Mercury, who the Liberty are 0-2 against this season. The first night of a back-to-back, both games at home. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday evening.