Liberty will be tested by tough road trip after seasons first missteps

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.SEATTLE — The Liberty aren’t panicking. They made that abundantly clear after Thursday’s loss to the Mercury. Nor should New York be raising any alarms. Should it be disappointed? Sure, but not shaken. The season is far too young, and the reigning champions have looked like the best team in the league for most of the first month of play. But this road trip is a fine time for the Liberty (10-2) to get back on track after dropping two of their last three games. That, or it could be the onslaught of more trouble. The Liberty are set open a 10-day, four-city road trip Sunday in Seattle against the Storm (8-5) before heading to the Bay Area to play the Valkyries (6-6) for the third time this season Wednesday.

The trip concludes with the Mercury (10-4) on Friday and the Dream (9-4) on June 29. “A 10-day road trip is not easy no matter how you look at it,” Sabrina Ionescu said.“Playing four games, four different cities, traveling, not really getting complacent — obviously, any time you have that many road games, it’s tough.

You never get to come back home and recalibrate.And use your fans to kind of help you and you have to find your energy in an opposing team’s arena.

So it’s not going to be easy.” The Liberty have dealt with some personnel and lineup changes because of injuries and an overseas commitment. Nyara Sabally missed six of the first eight games with a knee issue, and Jonquel Jones already has had a few physical setbacks this season. After missing two games with a sprained right ankle, Jones aggravated that injury in the first half of Thursday’s loss and will miss four to six weeks.She also missed a game with an overextended hamstring. The Liberty also are without Leonie Fiebich for the foreseeable future because she’s overseas for EuroBasket. These hardships affect every team a...