One wouldn’t have guessed that Nyara Sabally was playing in her first game in 2 ½ weeks by the way she smoothly drove to the basket, spun past Kamilla Cardoso and finished with a hook shot on the Liberty’s opening possession Tuesday night.
But that basket was only the beginning of what turned out to be an impressive return for Sabally.
With Jonquel Jones out with a sprained ankle, Sabally earned her first career WNBA start and showed no signs of rust in the Liberty’s 85-66 win against the Chicago Sky at Barclays Center.
Sabally finished with a season-high nine points on 4-for-4 shooting.
She also had three rebounds, an assist and steal in about 15 minutes.
“She looked great,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “It was great to have her out there.
But I think we can build on that. She’s always consistent and every time she gets minutes, she’s just consistently great. She knows what she does and how she can help us.”
It was only Sabally’s third game of the season.
Sabally had missed the past six games with a knee issue.
She had a platelet-rich plasma injection in her right knee to help with the pain.
She returned to practice last week before being cleared Monday to play against the Sky.
How long Sabally will be with the Liberty before she heads off to EuroBasket remains unclear.
Brondello said she still doesn’t know when Sabally and Leonie Fiebich will leave to represent Germany at the international tournament.
Not that the Liberty are thinking about that just yet. They’re just glad Sabally is healthy.
Jones was on the court Tuesday, but wasn’t cleared to play as she nurses a sprained ankle.
“She’s not quite there,” Brondello said. “We’re always about making sure the player is ready to come back and as close to 100 percent as possible.”
Brondello said Jones is “day by day.”
The Liberty don’t play again until Saturday at Indiana, which gives Jones’ ankle more time to heal.
Kennedy Burke has been the breakout star of the Liberty’s bench.
Burke had another efficient scoring night, posting 15 points off the bench while shooting 6-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from deep.
Through nine games, Burke is shooting 57.5 percent (30-for-52) from the field, including 63.3 percent (19-for-30) from 3-point range.
Breanna Stewart, who played a season in Seattle with Burke, isn’t surprised by the way she’s been playing.
“Honestly, with KB, what I’ve seen the most is the way she’s really took ownership of the role that she’s in,” Stewart said. “And whenever she’s on the court, she’s motivated to help the team but also very confident. And it’s tough especially when you come to a new team … finding that groove, and now she’s found it, and she’s just doing what she does best.”
