The New York Liberty have suffered a rash of injuries lately which has coincided with them falling out of the No. 2 seed in the WNBA standings, and now in a battle for playoff positioning and possible homecourt advantage in the opening round of the postseason. But the Liberty received reinforcements on Monday with Breanna Stewart back in the lineup as well as Sabrina Ionecsu. And more injury reinforcements are on the way for the Liberty’s game against the Washington Mystics on Thursday in the form of Natasha Cloud.

According to Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, Natasha Cloud is expected to make her return from injury on Thursday against the Mystics, as per Madeline Kenney of the New York Post. Cloud was sidelined for the team’s win against the Connecticut Sun Monday due to a nose fracture.

After being acquired by the Liberty in a trade before the start of the season, Cloud has stepped in as one of the team’s starting guards alongside Sabrina Ionescu amid the season-ending injury to Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.

Coming into this week, Cloud had appeared in 36 games for the Liberty at just about 29 minutes per game. She has been averaging 10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 42.8 percent shooting from the field, 32.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 85.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

The No. 15 overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft, Cloud is now in her 10th full season in the WNBA. She sat out the bubble year in 2020. She played the first eight seasons of her career with the Mystics before she signed with the Phoenix Mercury as a free agent ahead of the 2024 season.

This past offseason, Cloud was traded to the Sun as part of the massive, four-team trade that landed Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally in Phoenix. Cloud was then traded to the Liberty in a deal that netted the Sun the No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft and a future 2026 first round pick.