Liberty struggling without WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones

The Liberty hadn’t been looking like defending champs in search of a repeat. They were just repeatedly losing.

They dropped six of nine before tipping off against Las Vegas Tuesday night at Barclays Center.

The big difference had been a missing big.

Jonquel Jones was the MVP of the 2024 WNBA Finals. The 6-6 center’s inside/outside ability is invaluable because of not only what she can do at both ends, but the space she provides for others to do what they can do.

“I mean, we miss her everywhere,” Breanna Stewart said after the Liberty fell, 79-70, at home Sunday against Seattle.

“I think we just miss her presence, and that’s because of who she is, from a rim-protecting standpoint, but also offensively, like being able to stretch the floor as well as she does. Hoping she comes back quickly.”

They again had to try to overcome her absence against the Aces. And not just her.

Two more players got hurt against the Storm. Natasha Cloud injured her left hip and sat out against Las Vegas. Reserve forward Isabelle Harrison injured her right knee and also sat out.

Jones had aggravated a right ankle sprain early in the second quarter against Phoenix on June 19 in her second game back after sitting out two with the same injury. The prognosis was four-to-six weeks. There are two more games coming before the All-Star break.

“JJ’s progressing well,” coach Sandy Brondello said Tuesday. “So that’s encouraging. I’m not sure what that means right now. But she’s working hard and she’s building up. So hopefully post All-Star [break]. Sooner than later would be great for us.”

The Liberty came in 2-4 without her since the reinjury— 2-5 if you consider they lost that game to the Mercury.

“I mean, she’s an MVP-caliber type of player,” backup center Nyara Sabally said. “Obviously, she’s going to be missed. She’s one of the best players on our team, just her gravity offensively and defensively.

“I mean, she’s like the best post in the league, so it’s really hard to compensate that.”

Jones averages nearly a double-double at 12.1 points and 9.6 rebounds, which goes with 2.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 43.8% shooting from beyond the arc. The Liberty have gone 28-0 when she has delivered a regular-season double-double dating to 2023.

It also didn’t help that they missed another starter for the final seven games of June. Leonie Fiebich, a 48.4% three-point shooter through Sunday’s play, who also adds length on defense at 6-4, was off playing for Germany in the EuroBasket tournament.

The Liberty were 2-5 without the second-year forward and 1-5 when both she and Jones were missing, if you count that Phoenix game. Tuesday night was Fiebich’s third game back.

“You know, you can say that it doesn’t affect the team, or you [can say] just the next man up, but at the end of the day, we’re missing our Finals MVP; we’re missing Leo for all these games,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “It’s hard. People have to step up in positions and play, and there’s great teams in this league.

“It’s not just going to be easy when you’re down that many starters to just show up and win because we’re the New York Liberty . . . It’s been tough. We just haven’t been able to really catch a break.”

The Liberty need to become whole, and they especially need Jones in the middle of things again.

“We’ve just got to get JJ back and then try and build some continuity and some chemistry from there,” Brondello said. “In the meantime, we’ve got to find ways to win.”