Liberty signed Aubrey Griffin and Julie Vanloo to hardship contracts hours before tip — Sabrina Ionescu (ankle, two weeks) and Satou Sabally (cyst) both ruled out, Rebecca Allen out too. Defending champs walk into Brooklyn with two patches and three holes in the rotation.

The defending champs are starting their title defense duct-taped together. Hours before tipoff vs. the Sun, the Liberty signed Aubrey Griffin and former Mystics guard Julie Vanloo to hardship contracts to fill the gaps left by injuries.

Sabrina Ionescu rolled her left ankle in the third quarter of Sunday's preseason finale and is out at least two weeks (the first four games minimum) — MRI showed no major damage but New York is being careful. Satou Sabally, the prize offseason add who came over from Phoenix, is out with a cyst and considered day-to-day. Rebecca Allen is out too with a left leg issue. Three rotation pieces in street clothes for opening night.

That puts the load on Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Leonie Fiebich, and rookie Kiki Iriafen. Vanloo gives them another ball-handler; Griffin adds a wing. Liberty are still favored at home — Sun are rebuilding and just lost their core to free agency — but the +225 championship favorites just opened the year missing two All-Stars and patching it with hardship deals. Not how the script was supposed to read.