Our Wednesday slate closes up with a fascinating matchup. The Chicago Sky won’t be playing playoff basketball, but their future looks a whole lot more interesting after a promising second half. But the surging Golden State Valkyries will be in the postseason for the second time in a row. Can the upstart Sky pull the road upset here?
The Valkyries enter as 9.5-point home favorites with -500 moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Sky are +380 underdogs, with the game total set at 164.5 points.
Let’s dive into a preview, prediction, and pick for this Sky-Valkyries matchup.
Sky vs. Valkyries Prediction, Preview
These two teams haven’t matched up in quite a while. Back on May 13th, these two faced off in Ballhalla, and the game was an absolute rock fight. The Sky pulled off the 69-63 road win behind 18 points from Rickea Jackson and 15/5/7 from Skylar Diggins. Valkyries All-Star Kayla Thornton will surely have this rematch circled on her calendar after going scoreless on 0-of-11 shooting.
But much has changed on Chicago’s side of the fence since that matchup. Soon after that win, Rickea Jackson tore her ACL and will be out for the rest of the season. Skylar Diggins’ falling out with the organization has relegated her to the bench. Sydney Taylor has been the breakout star of the season for the Sky, but a groin injury is threatening to sideline her on Wednesday. Any way you slice it, this Sky squad is awfully diminished compared to the team they fielded in May.
For the Sky, the key is to get Kamilla Cardoso going offensively. She has size and power that nobody on the Valkyries can match in the paint. However, no team is better at getting in the passing lanes than Golden State. If Chicago’s guards can get her the ball in advantageous positions, there’s little they can do to stop her from getting good looks. But it’s no guarantee that the ball will find her in the first place.
For the Valkyries, it’s all about the three-point line. No team shoots more threes per game, or has a higher share of its offense come from beyond the arc. But the Sky have been rock solid at defending the three; they’re in the top five in three-pointers allowed and three-point percentage allowed. It’s fair to wonder what breaks first, the Valkyries’ shooting or the Sky’s perimeter defense. They also may try to go inside the arc, where Chicago is more vulnerable, but that has not been one of Golden State’s top strengths.
Now that we know these teams a bit better, who is going to pull out the win, and how should we bet on this game?
Sky vs. Valkyries Pick, Best Bet
With Sydney Taylor unlikely to play, this Sky offense is going to be toothless. They’ve relied on her self-creation for so much of their offense over the past month; facing arguably the best defense in the league without their top scorer is a brutal formula. Even if Golden State’s offense doesn’t get into top gear, they have more than enough juice to cover this spread.
