his WNBA playoff race is going to come down to the wire. The New York Liberty are in the hunt to secure home-court advantage for at least one round in their attempted title defense. Meanwhile, the Golden State Valkyries are moving closer to securing the first-ever playoff berth for an expansion team in its inaugural season. Tuesday’s contest will be full of high stakes and incredible talent.
The Liberty are six-point favorites on the road and hold -245 odds on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Valkyries, as home underdogs, are +200 on the moneyline. The total is set at 154.5 points. Let’s take a look at the best bets and predictions for this Liberty–Valkyries matchup.
Liberty vs. Valkyries prediction, pick
After an electric 9-0 start, the Liberty have been stumbling through the regular season—and much of their struggle has been out of their control.
First, Jonquel Jones went down for a month with an ankle injury. A crucial cog in both their offense and defense, her absence was deeply felt. Just as she was getting healthy and back into rhythm, Breanna Stewart went down and missed a month as well. As if losing their most important scorer wasn’t a tough enough blow, Sabrina Ionescu is now dealing with an injury just as Stewart ramps back up.
All things considered, it’s extremely impressive that the Liberty remain in the conversation for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. Getting healthy is their biggest priority; if they can manage that while securing a strong playoff seed, it’ll be a coup for New York.
Golden State has weathered a storm of its own. A roster thrown together for the first time shouldn’t be this good—yet here they are, close to clinching a postseason spot. Things threatened to fall apart when Kayla Thornton went down for the year with a knee injury, but Veronica Burton and the rest of the Valkyries had other ideas.
Burton has gone on an incredible run of scoring, playmaking, and defense. It has culminated in her being a -400 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook for the Most Improved Player award. Their excellent defense, combined with Burton’s orchestration of the offense, has kept them in the hunt.
This should be a rock fight of a game. Both defenses are locked in and have taken injury blows to their main offensive contributors. Even with this low total, I’m not confident in either offense going off.
