WASHINGTON — Four games in six days is no joke, especially at the professional level.
Having a back-to-back with one end being a road game makes it even more taxing.
The Liberty were faced with that reality this week.
After pulling out a gritty win against the Valkyries on Thursday night in Brooklyn, the Libs flew to the nation’s capital in the middle of the night and beat the Mystics on Friday.
The Liberty aren’t looking for any sympathy with this tough schedule.
They know back-to-backs and playing on little rest are part of the business.
But the Liberty are almost done with this especially tiring stretch.
The Liberty host the Sun at Barclays Center on Sunday before getting a well-deserved few days off before traveling back to Washington to play the Mystics again Thursday.
“We got one more game of this crazy schedule on Sunday,” coach Sandy Brondello said after Friday’s win. “So we need to make sure we finish strong.”
The Liberty went 6-0 through the first two weeks of the season.
They join the Lynx, also 6-0, as the only remaining undefeated teams in the WNBA.
If the Liberty manage to end this stretch the way they’re hoping to — with a win — they’ll tie the 1997 squad for the best start to a season in franchise history.
That shouldn’t be an issue with the Sun up next.
The Liberty have shown moments of pure dominance this season. Not only is their starting five loaded with offensive firepower, but that lineup’s defense is not to be ignored.
The Liberty’s bench is deep, too, though backup center Nyara Sabally has missed the past week with a right knee injury.
While the Liberty are fighting to defend their 2024 title, the Sun are in rebuild mode after they lost all five of their starters last offseason.
Under first-year WNBA coach Rachid Meziane, the Sun opened this campaign with five straight losses before they managed to pull off the 85-83 win against the Caitlin Clark-less Fever on Friday.
The Sun are still without starting point guard Lindsay Allen, who’s dealing with a left hamstring injury.
Marina Mabrey and Tina Charles are the Sun’s two best players.
Leonie Fiebich could be tasked with defending Mabrey, who is averaging 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season.
Fiebich is coming off a stellar game against the Mystics, during which she had a career-high three blocks.
Meanwhile, Jones or Breanna Stewart could take turns defending Charles, who’s averaging 17.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Sabrina Ionescu has scored a combined 52 points over the past two games — an impressive feat given the little recovery time she had between contests.
Ionescu made 10 of her 25 field goal attempts from 3-point range over the past two days.
She’s averaging 17.8 points.
