New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu suffered a high-grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in her right thumb during Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, according to Alexa Philippou. The three-time All-Star will not need surgery during the offseason to address the issue.
Ionescu was recently back at Barclays Center to take in the Brooklyn Nets win over the Milwaukee Bucks, and was spotted with a wrap on her thumb.
While it's unclear exactly when Ionescu was injured, she was noticeably struggling early in Game 5 after getting hit on the hand by Napheesa Collier. With just over a minute to play in the first quarter of that contest, she drove to the basket and had the ball knocked away. Immediately, she grabbed for her right thumb in obvious pain.
Ionescu's injury would help explain why her shooting fell off a cliff late in the Finals.
Through the first three games, she averaged 15.7 points on 18 of 47 from the field, including 8 of 22 from beind the arc -- certainly not her best, but also not terrible. She also won Game 3 with an incredible step-back 3-pointer with one second remaining.
Over the final two games, Ionescu scored 15 total points on 6 of 34 from the field, including 1 of 15 from behind the arc. Notably, she was 1 of 19 in the Liberty's title-clinching Game 5 win, which was the worst shooting performance in WNBA playoff history (minimum 15 shot attempts).
Ionescu understandably faced a lot of criticism for her poor shooting in the final two games, but those performances will now be seen in a much different light. In any case, neither she nor the Liberty cared much what other people had to say while they were celebrating the first championship in franchise history.