Sabrina Ionescu’s struggles in Sport 5 of the WNBA Finals have been well-chronicled; the All-Star guard shot simply 1-19 from the sphere and 1-10 from the sphere within the New York Liberty’s 67-62 win over the Minnesota Lynx. That got here after a Sport 4 loss that noticed her shoot 5-15 from the sphere.
Now, we’d simply have a minimum of a partial rationalization for why the sharpshooter struggled a lot within the ultimate two video games of the postseason. In response to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Ionescu suffered a “high-grade UCL tear” on her proper capturing hand throughout Sport 4. The ulnar collateral ligament is a robust band of tissue the place the thumb meets the palm, serving to maintain the thumb secure, and will have simply disrupted her capturing movement.
Ionescu’s harm is an efficient reminder of what number of accidents go unreported throughout playoff basketball — the WNBA is especially identified for underreporting accidents — whereas additionally serving to clarify her uncharacteristic struggles.
Previous to her harm, Ionescu hit what is going to go accomplished as one of many largest photographs in WNBA historical past — a go-ahead three-pointer with a second to play in Sport 3. That shot sealed the victory over the Lynx and gave the Liberty a 2-1 lead within the WNBA Finals.
Through the WNBA playoffs, Ionescu averaged 16.9 factors on 39.6% capturing, alongside 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists en path to the franchises’s first-ever WNBA title. That adopted a Second Staff All-WNBA season by which she averaged 18.2 factors, 6.2 assists, and 4.4 rebounds, serving to lead New York to a 32-8 document.
There’s been a variety of high-profile circumstances of basketball gamers struggling UCL accidents of their hand. In April of 2023, for instance, New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum had surgical procedure to restore a torn UCL. Ionescu’s harm just isn’t anticipated to require harm, nonetheless.
Earlier this week, Ionescu was noticed courtside with Jonquel Jones at a Brooklyn Nets sport with a sleeve on her hand the place the harm came about, fueling some hypothesis that she might have suffered an harm.
