Liberty Star Provided Cure Against Fever
BROOKLYN—The Caitlin Clark effect had nothing on the New York Liberty's Jonquel Jones consequence.
To be fair to the injured Clark, her presence probably would've at least somewhat beautified the Indiana Fever's Tuesday fate, which saw them drop a 98-84 decision to the Liberty at Barclays Center. What's undeniable, however, is the Liberty's progress with Jones, the reigning WNBA Finals MVP that seems on living up to those initials.
Jones' sneakers touched metropolitan game hardwood for the first time since June 19, when she "retweaked" an ankle injury a loss to Phoenix. After Tuesday's win, New York (16-6) is a perfect 8-0 when Jones plays at least 10 minutes in a game in this season somewhat offset by ankle woes. The average margin of victory in said showings is just under 20.
"She's obviously big and strong, but she's so versatile, and she you have to scout her both inside, outside," head coach Sandy Brondello said about the way Jones put the "V" in MVP after Tuesday's game. "It opens up the floor, but then you have you bringing two to her in the post up and she's great passer as well, too. It's just a gravitational pull that she brings in and and she can do everything."
"She can do everything for us at both ends of the floor, and that's why we didn't play our best basketball when she was out. We found ways to try and win as many games as we could, and then you add it back in, you just see the difference, how it helps us with our overall game."
Jones immediately set a tone by scoring Tuesday's first points, a corner three sunk 51 seconds in that Brondello labeled a "JJ classic." She missed her next six but finished the night on a 4-of-6 output in the second half including two crucial triples. One such three, earned off a savvy feed from Sabrina Ionescu, had Jones strumming an air guitar as Indiana called timeout and the score heralded a nine-point lead for New York.
"I did it at the beginning of the game when we were doing our starting lineup introductions to Sabrina, because she won a three-point contest," Jones said, referencing Ionescu's triumph in the long distance shootout over the weekend. "I don't know, it just came back to me after I hit that shot, and it just felt like a lot of fun. I just decided to have fun with it and not be too upset, so I'm happy I did it."
Tuesday marked the first yields of a productive All-Star break for Jones, who returned home to the Bahamas with a coaching contingent led by player development boss Andrew Wade when her name was left out of the pool. Jones had the best defensive rating among Liberty starters (88.0) in her return as well as the top net rating (18.1).
No one in New York was expecting Jones to be the instant solution to the early summer swoon partly brought about by her injury, and there were some tough reminders of that on Tuesday. New York received an admirable challenge from the Clark-less Fever, leading for a good bit of the first half through effective deep shooting from Sophie Cunningham, Lexie Hull, and Kelsey Mitchell. Aliyah Boston was a force inside, putting up a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double in defeat.
Metropolitan sanity, almost as its peak with a full roster if not for Nyara Sabally's late scratching, was eventually restored by Jones, whose sterling second half set the tone for a strong start to the Liberty's post-All-Star slate.
"I think that she was itching to get back on the court, especially all of last week. But we're just happy for her to be feeling good, physically, mentally. Sometimes injuries are tough after you've re-injured it again. I could just see her joy of playing and having somebody that's obviously has a size [advantage], but able to stretch and space the floor is a difference maker, and she's one of our anchors, so obviously it's great to have her back."
Provided Jones stays healthy, the defending Liberty (16-6) now gets a chance to fully prove its repeat mettle against some elite foes: they'll face Phoenix, a team that has dealt two of their six losses to date, on Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET, Ion) and the month closes with a visit to Minnesota, the first of four WNBA Finals rematches between July 31 and Aug. 19.
With her strong debut showing, Jones may have proved that she can stand as New York's most vital acquisition in a stretch that has already welcomed in Stephanie Talbot and will reportedly also add Emma Meesseman.
"It felt great to be back out there," Jones said. "Obviously, it's been a while since I've been on the floor, but my teammates have held it down while I was out, and everybody was excited for me to be back in and I was just as excited. I really enjoyed the moment, I had a lot of fun ... My conditioning, I feel like I'm at an eight right now, out of 10, so I'm in a good spot."
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.