Stephanie

Talbot

Stewart recorded a complete stat line in New York’s home finale, the Liberty’s first game with a full roster for quite some time. The focus for the reigning champs, who are locked into the 5-seed for the playoffs, is to be healthy for the postseason, which opens on Sunday. For that reason, fantasy managers still competing in their playoffs may be unable to count on Stewart playing her usual minutes in Thursday’s regular-season finale against the Sky. That may be an opportunity for Isabelle Harrison and Stephanie Talbot to pick up additional minutes after not checking into Tuesday’s win until the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Thursday’s game will be the fifth Harrison has missed since entering the league’s concussion protocol. With Breanna Stewart and Nyara Sabally also out, the Liberty will again be shorthanded in the frontcourt. While Stephanie Talbot has picked up some minutes off the bench, wing Kennedy Burke has been the most-used frontcourt reserve. The Liberty rely primarily on starters Emma Meesseman, Leonie Fiebich and Jonquel Jones, with the latter two playing at least 30 minutes in Tuesday’s win over the Lynx.

Harrison will remain in concussion protocol after she sustained one following the Liberty’s 83-71 loss to the Lynx on August 10. Without Harrison—yet another front court player in addition to Breanna Stewart and Nyara Sabally who both remain out—the Liberty’s front court rotation shrinks and Jonquel Jones, Emma Meesseman and Kennedy Burke will all have to step up. Expect some more minutes from Leonie Fiebich and Stephanie Talbot at the four spot especially since Burke is still getting back into game-level conditioning.

Stewart will miss her 10th game in a row since she sustained a bone bruise on her right knee during the Liberty’s July 26 game against the Sparks. When she spoke to media members on August 10 before the Liberty took on the Lynx at home, she explained that she prefers to return to play before her birthday on August 27. Since Stewart has been out, the Liberty have been rotating a bunch of players into the four spot including new acquisition Emma Meesseman who has been in her place in the starting lineup. But also Stephanie Talbot and Leonie Fiebich have had to play out of position at the four amid Stewart’s absence. Although with Kennedy Burke back for her second game following missing two and a half weeks with a first degree calf strain, New York will now have some more front court depth leading up to Stewart’s return.

In the seven games she played since making her Liberty debut on July 22, Talbot averaged 2.9 points on 44.4 percent shooting from the field. New York’s absences in the frontcourt have freed up additional opportunities for Talbot, who had her best game since joining the team in Tuesday’s victory. The performance against the Wings is not enough to make Talbot a viable fantasy option. Still, it was an important step forward as the Liberty continue without Breanna Stewart, Nyara Sabally and Kennedy Burke.

Without Breanna Stewart and while Jonquel Jones regains her conditioning and feel on the floor, Ionescu has carried the Liberty. She led the team in scoring, assists and was tied with teammate Stephanie Talbot for most rebounds on the Liberty with seven. To begin the game, Ionescu was in more of a distributing role, finding Natasha Cloud off the ball in addition to some scores on drives to the basket. But as the game wore on, Ionescu had to do a lot of creation of offense herself even after she began the third quarter trying to establish Jonquel Jones.

Harrison will slot into the Liberty’s starting lineup on Monday in place of the injured Breanna Stewart (leg) to earn her first start of the season. Between Stewart, Nyara Sabally (knee), and Kennedy Burke (rest) all being unavailable against the Wings, New York’s frontcourt is suddenly much thinner. The veteran forward could see a heavier-than-usual workload, and the same could be true for the newly acquired Stephanie Talbot. The Liberty’s five-game winning streak was snapped against the Sparks on Saturday, and they’ll look to begin a new one on Monday.

Talbot will fill out the Liberty’s 12 person roster for now as the Liberty previously waived second year guard Marquesha Davis prior to the midpoint deadline. She takes the roster spot of Davis, a player who struggled to crack the Liberty’s rotation. Talbot has familiarity with Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, who drafted her into the WNBA and then coached her not only on the Phoenix Mercury but also on the Australian National team. Talbot is a switchable wing who will join the Liberty’s rotation as a player able to guard the two through four positions while also stretching the floor and adding some playmaking. This combination is one that the Liberty have missed with Betnijah Laney-Hamilton being sidelined for the entire season after tearing her meniscus earlier this year.

Talbot, who logged consistent rotation minutes throughout June, saw her minutes decrease significantly in Golden State’s last two games. After logging six minutes in a July 7 loss to Atlanta, she was a DNP-CD for Saturday’s loss to the Sparks. Golden State’s returning multiple players from national team commitments factored into the decrease in playing time. The expected arrival of Iliana Rupert likely influenced Sunday’s transaction, as the Valkyries needed to free up a roster spot.

Billings started Monday night’s game after coming off the bench on Saturday night against the Lynx. Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase made the switch from Stephanie Talbot to Billings so that her team could match the size that the Dream have in their front court. Billings’ athleticism popped in the first half as she was able to challenge the less quick and athletic Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner. She accounted for 52.4 percent of the team’s total offense in the first quarter. While most of her scoring came in the first half, Billings’ ability to get on the glass was on full display in the second half where she had five of her total six boards.