The New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx in the 2024 WNBA Finals. It required five games, but New York was able to earn the victory. Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu enjoyed a number of big moments in the series, but fans surely remember her disastrous Game 5 performance. Ionescu scored only five points while shooting a miserable 1-19 from the field. However, it was later revealed that Ionescu suffered a high-grade UCL tear in her shooting hand during Game 4, per Alexa Philippou of ESPN.
Philippou also wrote in the ESPN article that Ionescu underwent surgery on Friday. Ionescu is expected to return to "on-court activity" in about a month. It goes without saying, but one has to imagine that Ionescu's injury played a big role in her Game 5 struggles.
The 27-year-old enjoyed another impressive season overall in 2024. She was selected to her third career and consecutive All-Star team and ultimately averaged 18.2 points, 6.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 steals per outing. Ionescu also shot 39.4 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Ionescu received MVP consideration. She finished fifth overall in WNBA MVP voting, which is the highest she has ever finished in the voting. There is no question that ionescu is among the best players in the league, which is why her Game 5 results, despite the team earning the win, were so surprising. There were not many people around the WNBA world who could have predicted that Ionescu would have endured such a disappointing game, but the injury seemingly explains her performance.
Sabrina Ionescu also seemingly did not want to use it as an excuse. The Liberty ended up picking her up, as they won Game 5 67-62.
Liberty hoping to repeat as champions in 2025
Assuming the Liberty are able to re-sign Breanna Stewart, they should be able to make another deep postseason run during the 2025 campaign. The team still features no shortage of talent around Ionescu and Stewart.
Teams such as the Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces are going to challenge the Liberty, though. WNBA free agency and potential trades could help turn other teams into serious contenders as well. The Liberty will remain confident, however, as they look to win a second consecutive championship.
Winning back-to-back titles is not all that common, but the Aces recently accomplished the feat in 2022 and 2023, so it certainly can be done.