The only game on the Thursday night WNBA slate will feature the Chicago Sky visiting the New York Liberty in the first of back-to-back matchups between the two teams. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
Chicago (9-12) has won three of its last four games and is fresh off yesterday afternoon’s 78-69 victory over Atlanta. This was just a one-point ballgame with 1:23 left, but the Sky were able to shutout the Dream down the stretch and pulled away for the nine-point victory. Eastern Conference Player of the Week Angel Reese recorded her 14th straight double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Chennedy Carter led the scoring efforts with 19 points.
New York (18-4) also picked up a big victory yesterday afternoon, downing Connecticut 71-68 to take sole possession of first place in the WNBA standings. Despite holding the Sun to just 35.8% shooting, the Liberty still found themselves in a dogfight late. That’s where Sabrina Ionescu stepped up big in the final two minutes, draining a pair of floaters to give NY the lead before blocking Tyasha Harris’ shot as time expired to seal the win. She led with 21 points while Breanna Stewart provided 18 points and 14 rebounds.
On the injury front, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (knee) has been ruled out of tonight’s game for the Liberty.
New York enters the game as a 9.5-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, accompanied by a total of 166.5. The Liberty are listed as a -550 moneyline favorite, making the Sky a +410 underdog.
Sky vs. Liberty, 7 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Sky +9.5
Despite holding the best overall record in the WNBA, New York has had several close games at the Barclays center and are a league-worst 2-10 against the spread at home this season. Chicago is heading into this matchup with some momentum and I’d imagine that the likes of Reese, Carter, and Kamilla Cardoso will want to make things closer than their 13-point loss to New York just over a month ago. I’ll take the Sky to cover as a heavy road underdog.
Over/Under: Under 166.5
This is a matchup of two defensively sound teams as they are both holding opponents to under 81 ppg on under 44% shooting. I expect this to be a defensive dogfight and we’ll see if fatigue will play a factor considering that both teams are playing their second game in as many days. I’ll go with the under here.
