Liberty loses Jones and loses to Phoenix

Here’s one way to describe Jonquel Jones’ value to the Liberty: Every time she has seen a double-double in her stat column, they have added to their win column.

The Liberty have gone 28-for-28 in those situations in the regular season since the 6-6 center’s arrival in 2023. Jones came into Thursday night’s game against Phoenix at Barclays Center averaging a double-double — 13.4 points, 10.3 rebounds.

The 2024 WNBA Finals MVP had missed three games with injuries. She just returned Tuesday night after sitting out two with a right ankle issue.

And now here she was walking gingerly off the floor and into the tunnel with 1:25 gone in the second quarter, done for the game, again with a right ankle injury.

The Liberty couldn’t get by without Jones. They got crushed on the offensive boards, yielding 26 second-chances points, and they committed 20 turnovers on the way to falling 89-81.

“It's really hard when we lose JJ,” coach Sandy Brondello said after seeing the Liberty drop to 10-2 after getting outrebounded 42-32, including 15-6 on the offensive glass. “That obviously takes a little of the energy away from us for a bit. That’s normal.

“But we’ve got to find a way to rebound. We can’t just put it all on her.”

They have been playing tougher teams these last three games. They lost two of them and had to rally from 17 down to win the other.

Brondello didn’t have an update on Jones, who got hurt a play in which she was fouled while trying to take a shot inside. The Liberty are essentially 2-2 without her. And now they’re facing a four-game road trip.

But this isn’t panic city here.

“There’s no panic,” Natasha Cloud said. “I want you all to hear that from me. It’s two losses. Let’s just keep things in perspective . . .  This is just the ebbs and flows of a season.”

That said, there are things that need fixing.

“We’ve got to get better on the defensive end, giving up too many rebounds, giving up too many paint points,” Cloud said. “And then offensively we’ve got to push.”

Monique Akoa Makani scored a career-high 21 points, and Alyssa Thomas had 18 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the improved Mercury (10-4), who won their fourth straight.

Breanna Stewart topped the Liberty with a season-high 35 points.

“They’re if not the best, one of the best teams in our league, and everybody’s trying to catch them,” Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts had said before the game. “But I do like how we guard.”

The Liberty trailed 76-74 after Sabrina Ionescu found Nyara Sabally for a layup.

Then Sami Whitcomb nailed a three from the right wing and Akoa Makani hit a 12-footer to make it a seven-point Mercury advantage with 4:02 left.

Ionescu missed a corner three and Whitcomb hit one from 27 feet for an 84-74 lead.

The Liberty got it down to 86-81 on two Ionescu free throws with 1:08 remaining.

Thomas missed two free throws. But Ionescu missed a three. Whitcomb made two free throws to make it 88-81 with 27 seconds on the clock.

“I think we’ve just got to be better staying composed, not turning the ball over and finding the open man,” Ionescu said.

The Mercury led 41-38 at halftime and then 53-49 in the third. But Stewart helped power an 11-1 run with five points and a steal that resulted in two more. It was 60-54.

But the Liberty couldn’t pull away and led just 65-64 with the game bound for the fourth.

“We learn from wins,” Brondello said. “But we learn a lot more from the losses.”