More than a month had passed since Jonquel Jones’ last double-double, through the final 11 games of the Liberty’s regular season and their playoff opener against the Atlanta Dream.
She still had her double-digit rebound games, still had the games with more than 15 points.
But they hadn’t overlapped in the same 40-minute window.
That changed during the Liberty’s 91-82 win over the Dream in Game 2 of their first-round series on Tuesday night at Barclays Center, when Jones collected 20 points and 13 rebounds on 8-for-12 shooting.
The Liberty improved to 12-0 this season when Jones records a double-double, and against Atlanta, it served as the complement to Sabrina Ionescu’s playoff career-high 36 points that they needed to advance and avoid a winner-take-all Game 3.
“I was kinda thinking what I was gonna do with the ball before I got the ball, then it was obvious,” Jones said. “And so just going out there and just understanding that if they give me the jump shot, I can make the jump shot. If they give me the drive, I can drive. And then trusting that my teammates will find me, and as long as I did the work, they’ll give me the ball.”
Jones, the former WNBA MVP whose pairing with Ionescu on pick-and-rolls ignited the Liberty offense at times this year, helped the Liberty trim their deficit before halftime by hitting a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left.
Then, in the early minutes of the third quarter, she grabbed her own miss and converted a put-back.
She also initiating crisp ball movement — which started with her and hit Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Breanna Stewart and then Leonie Fiebich for a 3-pointer — to stay within striking distance of the Dream.
In Game 1, she finished with just nine points on five shot attempts, while grabbing just seven rebounds.
There were moments in Game 2 Jones encountered difficulties when trying to post up, too, including in the first quarter when she tried to back down former Liberty star Tina Charles near the paint and couldn’t create any space.
Instead, Jones kicked the ball out to Ionescu, and she connected on a 3-pointer.
Jones will remain a critical piece of the Liberty’s puzzle through the rest of their postseason run.
She, like Ionescu and Stewart, can take over games.
She, like Stewart, can serve as a defensive anchor in the paint when opponents attempt to convert near the paint.
And Tuesday served as the latest reminder of that.
“She was doing her work on the block,” Stewart said, “and I think that that’s what we need from her.”
