But this isn\u2019t about the Liberty\u2019s ugly 17-point collapse. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s about Ionescu, who hasn\u2019t looked like herself since she returned last week from a lengthy absence due to back soreness.<\/p>\n
In a conversation with The Post after the game, Ionescu brushed off any concern that she\u2019s still dealing with discomfort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say the last few games, I felt really good in terms of my health and how my body feels,\u201d Ionescu said. \u201cBut yeah, I mean, I feel good, I feel like myself, so I think whatever that looks like out there, you know, I\u2019m fine with as long as we win, and maybe not tonight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Sabrina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-131804201_66f66e.jpg\")
Sabrina Ionescu drives to the basket during the Liberty\u2019s June 21 game against the Sparks. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Ionescu didn\u2019t take a single shot in the first half. <\/p>\n
She uncharacteristically missed an uncontested layup early in the third quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ionescu finished with two points on 1-for-3 shooting, three rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. <\/p>\n
That was Ionescu\u2019s fewest field goal attempts since June 24, 2021, during her second season in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York was outscored by seven points when Ionescu was on the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ionescu has reached 10 points only once in her four games after she was sidelined for three weeks with a back issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DeMarco acknowledged that Ionescu\u2019s late-game benching was not due to injury. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s giving Ionescu grace as she gets her sea legs back.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting her back to where she\u2019s comfortable out there,\u201d DeMarco said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s gonna take time, you know. I thought she had good moments and yeah, it\u2019s just gonna take time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ionescu didn\u2019t think she\u2019d have a big learning curve upon returning to the Liberty rotation. <\/p>\n
She said the team installed most of its offensive and defensive principles in training camp. <\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/new-york-liberty-guard-sabrina-131804806.jpg\")
Sabrina Ionescu is pictured during the Liberty\u2019s June 21 game against the Sparks. Imagn Images<\/p>\n
She had done her best to stay present and aware of any changes the team made during her absence \u2014 first with a foot injury, then with back soreness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Ionescu\u2019s return has been far from seamless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said Sunday she was reading what the game gives her and \u201cnot forcing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, we have so much offensive power,\u201d Ionescu said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s just not forcing \u2026 staying aggressive but just finding ways to get the ball moving. And when we\u2019re scoring the way that we are, I obviously don\u2019t need to force shots and look for it.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s also different, being the only point guard out there with bigs. My job is to kind of facilitate and get the ball kind of in the right people\u2019s hands and so in turn I got to continue to find ways to try to get open and get some good looks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of this, though, is on DeMarco to help Ionescu help herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ionescu was a big reason the Liberty ultimately beat the Sky last week. <\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t have it going in the first half but hit a timely 3 late and made the game-winning basket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But even after that game, Jonquel Jones alluded to the fact that Ionescu and the team know it\u2019ll take time for Ionescu to fully find her flow in this system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t like the past, where it\u2019s a system that she\u2019s ran for a few years and she\u2019s stepping into something that she\u2019s really familiar with,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of new circumstances right now with new teammates, new coach, new offense and so things are going to take a little bit of time to materialize but all you can ask for somebody is to just stick with it and have that confidence and to do what she did at the end of the game, just ultimate confidence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 Sabrina Ionescu checked out of Sunday\u2019s game with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter. She…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[160972,436,3675,99,434],"class_list":["post-720238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-chris-demarco","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-sabrina-ionescu","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}