Liberty Gets Injury News on Jonquel Jones, Caitlin Clark
Tuesday will mark a happy return in more ways than one for the New York Liberty.
The Liberty will go into Tuesday night's game against the Indiana Fever (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) fully healthy, as the injury report for their second half opener is completely empty. That includes Jonquel Jones, who is set to make her return from an ankle injury that has kept her out since June 19.
Conversely, the Fever will be missing face of the WNBA Caitlin Clark, who will miss her second straight game with a groin injury (h/t Chloe Peterson of the Indianapolis Star).
The Liberty have not been fully healthy for almost all of the summer, their ailments headlined by Jones. The reigning WNBA Finals MVP originally injured injured her right ankle in June 1's win in Washington and has appeared in only three more games since. Jones missed just over a month after she "retweaked" the ankle during June 19's loss at home to Phoenix.
Despite some early struggles, the Liberty (15-6) managed to fare somewhat well in her absence with a 5-4 mark. That includes wins in each of their last three games, creating the longest active winning streak going into the All-Star break. During that stretch, New York also went briefer periods without Natasha Cloud, Leonie Fiebich, Isabelle Harrison and Sabrina Ionescu.
"I think the team did a good job of staying together, understanding there was going to be a lot of adversity. Even though we weren't at full strength, teams are still coming and playing us at their best," Jones said just before the break. "We said at the beginning of the season that pressure is a privilege and that teams are going to give us their best shot. I think we did a good job of staying together as a team, just understanding that we had to weather the storm until we were back with everybody back in."
Indiana (12-11) will continue to work with Clark, whose anticipated sophomore season has been interrupted by nagging lower-body injuries. The Fever comes to New York for the second time in six days, previously dropping a 98-77 decision that served as the first half closer for each team.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.