During Friday’s exit interview at Barclays Center, Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu said she sustained a hip injury during Game 4 of the semifinals series against the Connecticut Sun. The guard refused to disclose the degree of the injury, saying that she didn’t want to use the ailment “as an excuse.”
But, Ionescu said she was playing at “not a high percentage” during the WNBA Finals.
“I had to get an injection before [Game 1] just to be able to play those first two Vegas games,” Ionescu said Friday. “So obviously, not ideal. It’s just kind of what happens. There’s no excuse obviously but, I mean, I wasn’t really able to walk so timing wasn’t great.”
The Aces, however, were able to close out the WNBA Finals in Game 4 without starters Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes, who both suffered foot injuries. Candace Parker played the first 18 games of the regular season before undergoing season-ending foot surgery in July.
In the four Finals games, Ionescu averaged 9.7 points on 31.5% shooting from the field. She failed to record at least 15 points in a game during the series and often was overmatched by Las Vegas’ guard trio of Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Gray.
In the Libs’s lone win of the series, Game 3, Ionescu shot 3-of-9 from the field but recorded 11 assists.
VOMITING ON TV
Ionescu laughed when asked about her moment throwing up during Game 4 of the Finals. The guard was seen on the ESPN broadcast vomiting into a garbage bin during a timeout.
— Barry Badrinath (@badrinathbarry1) October 19, 2023
“I don’t know. I was just feeling like I was about to throw up and was calling for a garbage can,” she said. “I don’t know. Maybe the emotions of the game, everything going on. Just wasn’t feeling great. But good thing there was a garbage can right there and it didn’t end up on the floor.
