Sandy Brondello reveals the silver lining of shocking loss to Sparks

Three hours before the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks met at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night, few would have thought Nyara Sabally would be one of the most impactful players in the game for New York.

But with Jonquel Jones out, Sabally got her chance to shine. On a night where the top-ranked Liberty suffered a shocking 94-88 loss to the team with the worst record in the WNBA, Sabally recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s great to see Nyara out there and playing so well. We just think he has this amazing potential and will continue to get better,” head coach Sandy Brondello said. “He’s very reliable, can do things on both ends of the floor and adds another dimension to our team.”

Sabally herself added that she feels more comfortable on the court after missing more than a month in the first half of the season.

“The more games you play, the more comfortable you get,” Sabally said. “I have great teammates around me who always know where I am and pass the ball to me, which made it easier for me.”

With the Liberty still claiming a stranglehold on the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs, leading the Connecticut Sun (who also lost Wednesday) by three games with eight to play, Sabally’s emergence could ultimately be more important than the loss.

And while it’s hard to tell from her stats, it’s a performance she’s been building up to. She logged double-digit minutes in six of the Liberty’s seven games since the Olympic break and made her mark defensively in each. The offense followed Wednesday like Sabally’s teammates found her for an easy look.

“Luckily, I made my layups today,” Sabally joked.

Sabally had a great teacher to help put her in this position, having watched Jones play since before they were teammates. Now, she can practice with and against the former MVP, which has provided an invaluable learning experience.

“I’ve watched it forever, not just since I’ve been in the league, but before that,” Sabally said. “Obviously, she’s always been a great role model and he’s been able to practice with her, practice against her and watch her. I shoot her a lot and just being able to pick her brain means a lot because she’s one of the best post players in this league.”

Kennedy Burke got the start in place of Jones, and she also had a solid game, scoring seven on 3-5 shooting. It’s been a theme of the second half of the Liberty season. The same bench players who were almost invisible from the beginning suddenly show the real depth of the team.

The Liberty hit a stumbling block late in the season

New York’s loss on Wednesday was their second in three games.

After Liberty lost last Saturday to Connecticut Sun, Sabrina Ionescu promised that the team will not lose another game like this. Liberty shot poorly and let the Sun dictate how the game was played at both ends.

To be fair, this wasn’t the same kind of loss. Liberty committed 19 turnovers, and Los Angeles turned them into 29 points. Ionescu shot 3-14 from three and Jones’ illness didn’t help matters.

Credit where it’s due on the other end. Freshman Rickea Jackson was electric in the first half, scoring 15 of her 19 points on 6-8 shooting. Rae Burrell came off the bench to shoot 7-8 from the field and 3-3 from three to account for her 18 points, 13 of which came in the second half.

It’s easy to say that these things happen over the course of a 40-game season, and this bump in the road may be nothing more than that. But at least the game featured plenty of fixable bugs.

“I think we can come out a little more aggressive, but also smarter,” Breanna Stewart said. “We try to make the home run play or we look to score from the first team and put ourselves in a bad position. It’s on the starters, on me to make sure we’re ready to come out and know where the ball is going to go.”

We’ll get to see how the Liberty’s approach changes in two days when they take on the Storm in Seattle. It will be the final challenge in a brutal run of six games in 11 days. After that, the team flies home for five days of rest before the Aces come to town next Thursday.