New York finds way to beat Washington, depsite missing three starters

NEW YORK (AP) — Just when New York was finally getting healthy, the injury bug has bitten the Liberty again.

Even without three starters, the Liberty found a way to rout the Washington Mystics 89-63 on Thursday night.

Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones missed the game. Ionescu injured a toe on her left foot at the end of practice on Wednesday and Jones wasn’t feeling well Thursday morning and was a late addition to the injury report. Natasha Cloud (broken nose) was still out.

“Welcome to the New York Liberty 2025,” coach Sandy Brondello quipped before her pregame press conference. “It’s been crazy.”

New York did welcome back Isabelle Harrison, who had a season-high 16 points and provided a big lift for the Liberty, who had only eight healthy players for the game. The veteran forward missed about three weeks with a concussion.

“Knew having J.J. out, wanted to bring more aggressiveness and effort,” Harrison said. ”Rebounding that we need to consistently have.”

The Liberty just got star Breanna Stewart back on Monday after she missed 13 games with a bone bruise in her right knee. She’s still working her way back, playing only 23 minutes.

New York is 10-0 when Ionescu, Jones and Stewart finish games. They are now 14-15 when they don’t.

“They have a lot of people. We have major challenges in front of us,” Washington coach Sydney Johnson said. “So it won’t be Sabrina and J.J., but it’ll be some others. I can guarantee you that.”

Johnson was right as Harrison and the reserves stepped up, outscoring Washington’s bench 35-18. The three reserves made five of six 3-point attempts combined.

The Liberty are in the thick of the playoff race, tied with Phoenix for the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and homecourt advantage in the first round. New York is a half-game behind third place Atlanta.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball