The Sky are on the road heading to take on one of the best teams in the league in New York. The Liberty have been monsters as they’re still undefeated this season after eight games. They’ve chewed through pretty much everyone in their way. With scoring, defense, and size everywhere, they’re truly the real deal as they look to run it back again this season.
Jonquel Jones Questionable
Moriah Jefferson Out
Courtney Vandersloot Out
This is going to be an extremely tough game for the Sky to compete in. They’re still firmly in the rebuilding stage, while the Liberty are aiming for another championship. This is like a JV team facing the state champions; it’s just a difference in caliber of play.
For the Sky to have any chance in this game, they’re going to have to shoot the leather off the ball. We’re talking about hitting at least a 40% clip from three just to keep up. New York has such a strong core of scorers who can find high-quality shots all over and dominate a defense. Chicago just doesn’t have the scoring they need to be competitive in this one. With Reese struggling to find a rhythm, and the team’s leading scorer being Ariel Atkins, averaging just 13 points, this team isn’t ready. We’ve already seen this matchup, too, and it ended in a 20+ point blowout with the Liberty benching starters in the third quarter. As much as I’d love to see a competitive matchup tonight, this just isn’t it.
So that’s why I’m going with the Liberty moneyline, the over on the 165 point total, and the Liberty -17 spread.
Money line: CHI (+950) / NYL (-1650)
Total Points: 165
Spread: +17 CHI (-108) / -17 NYL (-112)
Sabrina has been consistently locked in as an 18+ point-per-game scorer all year. The only times she hasn’t been close are during a few blowouts. Going against the Sky, the concern is another blowout. Ionescu only played 20 minutes in their last game because they overwhelmed them. I have a feeling we’ll see a similar outcome tonight, with Sabrina exiting early and another Liberty blowout.
Reese has been a strong rebounder this season. Averaging 12.3 boards per game this year, she ranks among the best in the league. However, the Liberty present a tough matchup for her. She managed to secure 12 rebounds in their last encounter, but I have a feeling she might fall just short of that tonight. With Stewart, Hones, and Ionescu all out going for boards, I think rebounds, especially offensive ones, will be hard to come by tonight.
We’ve seen Atkins have a few solid games recently, including a 26-point outing just a couple of days ago against Dallas. However, we haven’t seen that level of production from her against stronger rosters. Last time she faced the Liberty, she only scored 8 points, and in her most recent game against the Fever, she managed just 4. With the over set fairly modestly at 13.5, the under is still calling my name tonight.
Cloud dominated the Sky in their first matchup, dropping bombs from outside. She was a force throughout that entire game, and a killer playmaker. With the line only set at 5.5 for her assists and the number of scorers around her, this seems like an easy line to bet the over on.