The Liberty Are Only Getting Better
Liberty vs Sky Preview: Take The Liberty With Discounted Price
We’ve got more WNBA Commissioner’s Cup matchups on today’s WNBA schedule!
Tonight, the New York Liberty will defend their 7-2 record against the Chicago Sky, who are just 3-4 on the season. The Liberty are currently 5-1 in the Eastern Conference, while the Sky have only one win in the Eastern Conference.
The one win ultimately came against the Liberty on the road, 90-81 on May 23. That was one of the more shocking WNBA scores this season.
But lately, while the Liberty keep winning, the Sky keep finding themselves in negative headlines. Chennedy Carter’s hard foul on Caitlin Clark was upgraded to a flagrant 1 and has been the subject of countless discussions.
Meanwhile, Angel Reese believes she’s the reason more people are watching the WNBA, but she used “me” instead of “us” in her comments, ultimately giving no credit to everyone else.
While the drama is intriguing, so is the actual game. On the road, the Liberty are -6 (-125), with the total currently at 165.5. However, the total is also juiced to -115.
Check out our Liberty vs Sky preview for tonight’s matchup below.
🏀 Liberty vs Sky 🏀
Day/Time:
Records: Liberty (7-2)/Sky (3-4)
Location: Wintrust Arena
Streaming: Chicago, IL
Liberty vs Sky Preview & Trends
While the Liberty are 7-2 on the season, they’ve underperformed to begin the year.
- New York is just 2-7 against the spread and have hit the Over in five of nine games to begin the season.
On the other hand, the Sky might be 3-4 on the season, but they’ve done better against the spread, holding a 4-3 record. Meanwhile, the total has hit the Under in four of seven games this year.
Back on May 23, the Sky were 16.5-point underdogs and won outright.
Liberty Live
The New York Liberty became the first WNBA club to surpass $2 million in gate receipts and have added an audience of 17.4 million in their game against the Indiana Fever.
The Liberty will capitalize on the success and launch Liberty Live, which will be $4.99 a month and debut starting tonight.
Chicago’s Drama
It all began with Chennedy Carter’s shoulder shove against Caitlin Clark in their game against the Fever. Carter wasn’t called for a flagrant foul but was upgraded to one when the league reviewed the hit.
Meanwhile, Angel Reese seems very jealous of Caitlin Clark, noting that people are watching the WNBA because of her. She stirred the pot on social media and gave the press another reason to discuss Clark’s success.
The WNBA has always been a physical league. But there’s a lot of disrespect and jealousy among the WNBA players. The Chicago Sky have ultimately been in the headlines the most for negative things.
The Liberty Are Turning Things Around
The New York Liberty’s start hasn’t been the most efficient. The team hasn’t dominated many opponents after making the WNBA Finals last season. While they’re 7-2, they’ve underperformed to begin the year.
However, to begin June, the Liberty added a 104-68 win over the Fever and held Caitlin Clark to three points in the win. New York shot 57.6% in that game and hit 44% from downtown. The Liberty also won the rebounding battle by 11 and earned 12 more assists.
That’s more like the Liberty.
This season, New York has still scored 86.1 points per game, which is third-best in the league. They’ve also held opponents to 76.4 points per game, which is second-best in the WNBA.
While New York hasn’t shot the ball well from three this season, it’s certainly coming. As acknowledged above, the Liberty shot 44% from three in their last game on 25 attempts.
Last season, New York hit 37.4% from downtown, which was a league-best. This year, they’re ninth in the WNBA, shooting 32%.
Still, the game on Sunday helped. The rate will likely only rise as the season progresses.
Meanwhile, the Liberty have also held opponents to a 41.4% field goal percentage. Teams have only scored .84 points per play and have rarely got to the foul line against the Liberty.
Ultimately, New York is allowing 32.7% of points from downtown. So, while that needs to be corrected, the Sky have only shot 31.6% from downtown, which is worse than the Liberty this season.
The Sky are 10th in three-point shooting and last in effective field goal percentage with a 45.6% number.
Meanwhile, the Sky have done a good job defensively against the three. They’ve allowed opponents to hit just 30.8% from downtown this season. Chicago is just sending teams to the full line at a high rate, allowing nearly 20% of points from the foul line this season.
The Sky can stay in this game by dominating the glass on the offensive end, as they’ve added 12.9% of offensive rebounds per game. However, on the other end, Chicago has added just 23.3 defensive rebounds and ranks 11th of 12 in the defensive glass.
That said, the Liberty ranks second in defensive rebounding and should limit Chicago’s second-chance opportunities.
- Therefore, let’s back the Liberty -6 (-125) for tonight’s Liberty vs Sky preview.
For WNBA betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
