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New York Liberty Dealt Major Blow on Thursday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 9:10 PM ET

The New York Liberty were able to get back to their winning ways on Tuesday with an 86-81 win over the Atlanta Dream. They bounced back after suffering a 102-88 loss against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Saturday, which marked New York's first loss of the season after a 9-0 start.

The Liberty are back in action on Thursday and are looking to make it back-to-back wins in a matchup against the Phoenix Mercury. New York, however, was dealt a major blow in the second quarter after five-time All-Star Jonquel Jones was forced to exit the game.

Jones landed awkwardly after going up for a layup, writhing in pain on the floor while grabbing her right leg.

Jonquel Jones just went down awkwardly, Liberty can’t afford to lose her. pic.twitter.com/51AaItLi4u
— LiveWire Sports Media (@LiveWireSports1) June 19, 2025

The silver lining here is that Jones was able to walk on her own as she made her way back to the locker room. The bad news, however, is that she was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The team announced via social media that Jones would not be able to return to the game due to a right ankle injury, which is the same issue that kept her out for two games last week.

Jonquel Jones (R. Ankle) will not return in tonight's matchup against the Phoenix Mercury.
— NYL Stats (@NYL_Stats) June 19, 2025

The details of Jones' injury are currently unclear, but the fact that she was ruled out almost immediately after the incident is not a good sign. At this point, her status for the Liberty's game against the Seattle Storm on Sunday is up in the air.

Jones has been a key cog for New York's success this season, and losing her would be an undeniably big blow. The former WNBA MVP entered Thursday's game averaging 13.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.8 triples in 24.6 minutes per contest.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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