Chicago Sky vs. New York Liberty Preview, Prediction and Odds - 6/24/21
A pair of Eastern Conference teams take the floor in WNBA action in the Big Apple. The surging Chicago Sky are on the road as they travel to face the New York Liberty in the second game of a two-game series Thursday night. In the first contest in this two-game set, it was the Sky picking up a 92-72 victory on the road Tuesday night to ensure no worse than a split. That evened up the season series at one win apiece coming into this meeting. The Sky have won five of the last seven meetings: can they extend their win streak or will the Liberty find a way to come up with the victory here in an effort to get on track?
Chicago Sky Shooting for Seventh Straight Win
Chicago ran their win streak to six games as they won in one-sided fashion against the Liberty in the first meeting of this two-game set Tuesday night. The Sky improved to 8-7 on the season and entered Wednesday holding the fifth seed in the WNBA playoff picture. On Tuesday night, Chicago trailed only once in the game, with that coming at 2-0. The Sky reeled off the next eight points and led the rest of the way with the closest the Liberty getting coming at 13-12. Chicago led by six after the opening quarter, by 16 at the half and by as many as 28 in the second half en route to the win. The Sky shot 45% from the field, including seven of 24 from three-point range, and won the rebounding battle 42-32. Candace Parker led Chicago with 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the win.
The Sky is 6th in the league in scoring offense as they muster 81.8 points per contest this season. Chicago is third in rebounding (36.9 boards a night) and third in assists by dishing out 20.3 dimes a game. The Sky is good on defense as they are second in the league by allowing an average of 78.3 points a contest. Kahleah Copper is one of six players averaging in double figures for the team with 13.9 points plus 4.9 rebounds a night this season. Candace Parker (11.5 points, eight boards), Astou Ndour-Fall (10.1 points, 7.6 rebounds) and Ruthy Hebard (9.1 points, 6.4 rebounds) are solid secondary options. The Sky can also look to Diamond DeShields (12.5 points), Courtney Vandersloot (11.9 points, 8.6 assists), Allie Quigley (12.2 points), Stefanie Dolson, Brittany Boyd-Jones, Azura Stevens, Natasha Mack and Stephanie Watts to contribute for coach James Wade. Chicago is 9th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 41.8% as a team. The Sky are near the bottom of the pack in threes per game as they are 9th with 6.6 per contest: they are 9th in three-point shooting at 33.7%. Chicago comes in first at the free throw line this season as they are shooting 87.1% at the stripe. Ndour-Fall is out currently as she is playing for Spain in EuroBasket and likely won’t be back until late June.
New York Liberty Hoping to Earn Split
New York was drubbed soundly in the opening game of this two-game set, suffering their sixth loss in the last eight games in the process. The Liberty entered Wednesday 7-7 on the year and held the sixth seed in the WNBA playoff picture. New York scored the game’s first bucket but never recovered after the Sky reeled off the next eight points. The Liberty got within one at 13-12 but was outscored 7-2 the rest of the quarter to trail by six after the opening stanza. New York trailed by 16 at the half and never made a push in the second half as they went down in defeat. The Liberty shot 42.6% from the field, including six of 28 from three-point range, and lost the battle of the boards 42-32. Betnijah Laney led New York with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists in the loss.
The Liberty comes into this contest 8th in the league in scoring offense with an average of 80.1 points per game. New York is 11th in rebounding (33.5 boards a night) and fourth with 20.3 assists per contest. The Liberty ranks 10th in the league in scoring defense by allowing 86.7 points per game. Betnijah Laney leads the Liberty with 19.8 points plus 5.3 assists a night this season. Sabrina Ionescu (11.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists) and Michaela Onyenwere (9.1 points) are also capable scoring options. Sami Whitcomb (10.9 points, 5.5 boards), Natasha Howard (14.5 points), Kylee Shook, Rebecca Allen, Jazmine Jones, Reshanda Gray and DiDi Richards are key contributors for coach Walt Hopkins. New York is 6th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 42.6% from the floor as a team. The Liberty is leading the league in made threes per game (10.6) while ranking third in three-point shooting at 36.5%. New York is 7th in free throw percentage as they cash in 80% of their chances at the stripe. Howard is expected to miss four to six weeks with a sprained MCL sustained May 24 against Dallas. Kiah Stokes is out for the time being as she is representing Turkey in EuroBasket.
Pick: Chicago Sky
Chicago started the year with back-to-back wins, dropped seven in a row and enter this game winners of six straight contests. The Sky have won four of those six games by double figures and are facing a New York team that is heading in the opposite direction. We’ve seen the Liberty have serious issues on the defensive end of the floor, a trend that continued in the loss on Tuesday night. Chicago is healthy and their deep rotation has paid major dividends to this point of the season. With the Sky clicking on all cylinders, you have to give them the upper hand here as they sweep the two-game set over the reeling Liberty.
Total: Over
Chicago’s offense has been firing on all cylinders of late as they have a lot of depth to work with in the scoring department. The Sky is good on the defensive end but their offense has carried them of late. We’ve seen Chicago hit over the mark in five of their six games in this win streak, which has pushed them to going over the mark in eight of their 15 games on the year. New York is an offensively minded team with major issues defensively as they are 10th in the league in scoring defense. The Liberty has seen the over hit in nine of their 14 games this season. These two teams have seen the over hit in 10 of their last 11 matchups. With the way Chicago is going offensively and the Liberty’s defensive shortcomings, this one ends up over the mark.
