Sabrina Ionescu appears to be back, which is great news for her New York Liberty.

The Liberty (12-8), who are set to play host to the Minnesota Lynx (15-4) on Friday night, are coming off a win over the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship game.

Ionescu, a four-time All-Star, entered this week averaging just 9.5 points in eight games of a season in which she has been slowed first by a foot injury and then back pain. However, Ionescu scored a season-high 26 points against the Aces, making 5 of 13 shots from 3-point range.

“I always have belief in myself,” Ionescu said. “An injury is not going to diminish my understanding of who I am.”

One of the keys for Ionescu in the Cup final was that she attacked the rim more, which opened up her 3-point game.

If Ionescu is truly back, New York’s starting lineup — which has been in flux all year due to a variety of injuries — has been solidified. The other components are Cup final MVP Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Leonie Fiebich and rookie point guard Pauline Astier.

Meanwhile, Minnesota has a rookie point guard of its own, Olivia Miles, who averages 18.7 points, 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Miles, 23, has been so good that she is a near-lock for Rookie of the Year and a strong contender for league MVP.

On the other end of the experience scale is Lynx veteran Natasha Howard, 34. Howard is having a career year, shooting 61.1% from the floor, which leads the league (minimum seven shots per game). Howard also averages 17.7 points and a career-high 8.2 rebounds.

Those two players are a big reason why the Lynx have the best record in the WNBA. That top spot in the standings is shocking considering that Lynx star Napheesa Collier has missed the whole season following surgery on both of her ankles.

Collier, who finished second in MVP voting last year, returned to practice on Wednesday, although there is no target date for her to get back to playing games.

“We’re not at the end yet,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said of the comebacks of Collier and Dorka Juhasz (foot). “There’s more work to do.”

Reeve was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame last Saturday.

–Field Level Media

An expected elite pitching duel turned out to be a rout as Sal Stewart, Jose Trevino and T.J. Friedl homered to lead the Cincinnati Reds past Jacob Misiorowski and the host Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 on Thursday.

Chase Burns bested Misiorowski for the Reds, who snapped a four-game losing streak and averted a series sweep by salvaging the fourth contest. Trevino was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Friedl 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Garrett Mitchell homered for the Brewers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Burns (10-1), who won his ninth consecutive decision, gave up two runs and four hits in six innings with two walks and four strikeouts.

Misiorowski (9-4) allowed five runs (one earned) on five hits in five innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out 10 to push his major league-leading total to 156.

Cincinnati solved Misiorowski early as Stewart’s one-out home run in the first gave the Reds a 1-0 lead.

He caught up with Misiorowski’s 102 mph four-seam fastball and drove it to the opposite field — with an exit velocity of 102.7 mph — an estimated 402 feet over the right-center-field fence. It was Stewart’s 17th homer.

Misiorowski struck out the other three batters in the inning.

Trevino’s three-run homer with two outs highlighted a four-run fourth to give the Reds a 5-0 lead. Noelvi Marte’s RBI single had made it 2-0 before Trevino lofted Misiorowski’s 3-2 cutter down the left field line and just over the fence for his first home run.

None of the runs were earned because first baseman Jake Bauers’ error allowed leadoff man JJ Bleday to reach base.

Mitchell’s homer leading off the fifth put Milwaukee on the board. He took Burns’ 0-1 four-seam fastball to the opposite field, down the line in left, for his seventh home run.

Brice Turang’s run-scoring double in the sixth made it 5-2.

Friedl’s third home run off Grant Anderson with two away in the seventh extended Cincinnati’s lead to 6-2. Friedl added an RBI single in the eighth.

–Field Level Media

Former Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold could have a new team before training camp, his attorney argued in court as prosecutors push to tighten restrictions on the 23-year-old free on $1 million bond.

Arnold was arrested last week and is facing charges of armed robbery and kidnapping related to an incident in February near Tampa, Fla.

Harvey Steinberg, one of Arnold’s defense attorneys, wrote in his objection to a judge in Florida those tighter restrictions — house arrest and a GPS tracking bracelet — would make it difficult for his client to land with a new team following his release by the Lions on Monday.

Arnold is not a fully vested NFL veteran and is subject to waivers, which would have allowed another team to claim him Thursday.

The court initially agreed restricting Arnold with a tracking device would not permit him to do his job. But that was hours before he was released by the Lions, changing his employment status and potentially altering the court’s opinion on the terms of his release.

“Although Mr. Arnold has been released by the Detroit Lions organization, he already has been contacted by three other NFL clubs regarding his services,” Steinberg wrote.

As of Thursday afternoon, no team has put in a claim on Arnold, per the NFL’s daily transactions report.

–Field Level Media