Sabrina Ionescu suffered a high-grade UCL tear in shooting hand in WNBA Finals

Hands heal.A banner lasts a lifetime. Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty’s star guard, was playing through a high-grade UCL tear in her right shooting hand during Games 4 and 5 of the WNBA Finals. As recently as last week, the three-time All-Star was spotted with her hand wrapped in a black gauze-like material with a splint on her thumb; the ulnar collateral ligament is located on the inner side of the thumb where the digit meets the palm. Ionescu is expected to make a full recovery and the injury does not require surgery at this time, ESPN reported Thursday. A fifth-year guard, Ionescu was a driving force for the Liberty en route to their first championship in franchise history but struggled mightily in the final two games against the Aces. In Game 4 — when she injured her hand — Ionescu shot just 5 of 15 from the floor and went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Two days later, in Game 5, her percentages were even worse: 1-for-19 overall and 1-for-10 on 3-pointers. And yet, for as woebegone as those final two appearances were, it’s Ionescu’s Game 3 performance that will remain in the hearts and minds of Liberty fans forever. Ionescu contributed only 13 points in the contest, but her 3-pointer from just a step in front of the logo with one second remaining went down as one of the most iconic shots in WNBA history. In Games 4 and 5, though Ionescu wasn’t nearly as effective as normal — she averaged just 7.5 points, well below her season average of 18.2 per game.But the guard found other ways to contribute, racking up 13 rebounds, 13 assists, two steals and one block. Ionescu finished the playoffs as the Liberty’s second-leading scorer with an average of 16.9 points per game....