If you only looked at the box score of the 2024 WNBA Finals finale, you'd think Sabrina Ionescu had one of the worst nights of her professional life. A 1-for-19 shooting performance is the kind of stat line that usually gets a player roasted on social media for eternity. But if you actually watched the Sabrina Ionescu last 10 games, you know that numbers without context are basically useless. She was playing with a torn UCL in her right shooting hand. Let that sink in for a second.
She couldn't buy a bucket in Game 5, sure. But she was out there diving for loose balls, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out eight assists to keep the New York Liberty’s championship hopes alive. It was ugly. It was gritty. And honestly, it was exactly what the Liberty needed to finally secure that elusive first title.
Breaking Down the Sabrina Ionescu Last 10 Games
To understand how we got to that confetti-filled night at Barclays Center, we have to look at the stretch run. The final few games of the regular season and the chaotic playoff gauntlet tell a story of a player who had to completely reinvent herself on the fly as her primary weapon—that lethal three-point shot—started to fail her due to injury.
In the final week of the regular season, things looked relatively normal. On September 19 against Phoenix, she dropped 22 points. She looked sharp, moving well, and finding her spots. But the cracks were starting to show. Two days prior, she’d struggled with a 9-point outing. The consistency wasn't there, and fans were starting to wonder if the heavy workload of an Olympic year plus a deep WNBA season was finally catching up to her.
Then the playoffs hit.
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The Quarterfinals and Semifinals Surge
The first half of this ten-game stretch saw Ionescu looking like an absolute superstar. Against the Atlanta Dream and later the Las Vegas Aces, she was the engine. People forget that she basically put the dagger in the Aces' dynasty. In the closeout game against Vegas on October 6, she was efficient and composed, finishing with 12 points and helping the Liberty clinch that Finals berth. She wasn't just a shooter; she was a floor general.
The Finals Rollercoaster
The Finals against the Minnesota Lynx were a total fever dream.
- Game 1: A heartbreaker. Ionescu struggled with her efficiency but still stayed aggressive.
- Game 2: She bounced back with 15 points and 5 assists, helping New York tie the series.
- Game 3: The "Logo Brina" moment. This is the peak of the Sabrina Ionescu last 10 games. She was having a miserable night—couldn't hold onto the ball, couldn't score—until the final minutes. Then, she hit a 28-foot step-back triple that silenced the Minnesota crowd and put New York one win away from history.
- Game 4 & 5: This is where the physical toll became undeniable. Her shooting percentages cratered. In Game 5, she went 1-of-19. It was painful to watch, yet she finished with a +/ - that showed she was still a net positive on the floor because of her gravity and playmaking.
Why the Stats Don't Tell the Whole Story
Most people just want to talk about the 29% shooting from the floor during the Finals. It's an easy target. But if you talk to experts like Sandy Brondello, they’ll tell you her impact was elsewhere. Because she was on the court, Minnesota couldn't just leave her. They had to respect the threat of the shot, which opened up lanes for Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart.
Basically, she was a decoy with a championship heart.
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Her defensive rating in the postseason was actually a career-best. She worked on her lateral quickness all offseason, and it showed when she had to switch onto smaller, faster guards. She wasn't the defensive liability people claimed she was back in 2022. She was holding her own.
The Injury Factor
The reveal after the season that she had a UCL tear in her shooting hand changed the entire narrative of the Sabrina Ionescu last 10 games. Anyone who has ever tried to flick a basketball knows that your thumb and ligament stability are everything. The fact that she was even attempting 30-footers is kind of insane. It explains the "short" misses and the lack of arc we saw in those final two games against the Lynx.
Looking Toward the 2026 Season
So, where does she go from here? As of early 2026, the focus has been entirely on rehab. She was recently ruled out of on-court activities for the start of the Unrivaled season to make sure that hand is 100% for the Liberty's title defense.
The "Mamba Mentality" gets thrown around a lot, but Ionescu actually lives it. She’s not going to apologize for the 1-of-19 night. She’s going to use it as fuel. If you're betting on her falling off, you've clearly forgotten how she's responded to every other setback in her career, from the ankle injury in the bubble to the Finals loss in 2023.
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Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts:
- Don't overvalue raw FG%: In high-stakes playoff basketball, gravity and defensive presence often outweigh a bad shooting night.
- Watch the off-ball movement: In her last 10 games, Ionescu's ability to draw double-teams without the ball was at an all-time high.
- Monitor the recovery: Her performance in the first month of the 2026 season will depend entirely on the strength of that repaired ligament.
If you want to understand the true value of Sabrina Ionescu, stop looking at the shooting splits and start looking at the ring on her finger. She dragged her team through a physical war, and that’s what defines this ten-game stretch more than any basket she made or missed.
Check the official WNBA stats or the New York Liberty's team site for the exact play-by-play breakdowns of each Finals game to see how her assist-to-turnover ratio remained elite even when her shot disappeared. Moving forward, expect a more mid-range heavy approach as she eases back into her long-distance game during the 2026 preseason.