New York Liberty at Chicago Sky 8/17/22 WNBA Picks and Prediction

Chicago Sky vs New York Liberty

Wednesday August 17, 2022

The Line Chicago Sky -7.5 --- Over/Under 165.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds

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The New York Liberty and Chicago Sky meet Wednesday in game 1 of the WNBA Playoffs First Round at the Wintrust Arena. The New York Liberty have won 6 of their last 8 games. The Chicago Sky have won 11 of their last 15 games.

The New York Liberty are averaging 79.6 points on 43.1 percent shooting and allowing 82 points on 41.8 percent shooting. Sabrina Ionescu is averaging 17.4 points and 6.3 assists, while Natasha Howard is averaging 15.1 points and 7.3 rebounds. Betnijah Laney is the third double-digit scorer and Marine Johannes is grabbing 1.7 rebounds. The New York Liberty are shooting 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and 82.3 percent from the free throw line. The New York Liberty are allowing 33.6 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 34.2 rebounds per game.

The Chicago Sky are averaging 86.3 points on 48.1 percent shooting and allowing 81.3 points on 43.8 percent shooting. Kahleah Cooper is averaging 15.7 points and 2.3 assists, while Candace Parker is averaging 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds. Emma Meesseman is the third double-digit scorer and Courtney Vandersloot is grabbing 3.9 rebounds. The Chicago Sky are shooting 34.5 percent from beyond the arc and 82.3 percent from the free throw line. The Chicago Sky are allowing 34 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 34.8 rebounds per game.

The Liberty are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Wednesday games and 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 vs. Eastern Conference. The Sky are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 home games and 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The under is 5-2 in Liberty last 7 road games. The over is 6-1 in Sky last 7 home games. The over is 18-7-1 in the last 26 meetings in Chicago and 12-4 in the last 16 meetings.

The Chicago Sky have been the better, more consistent team, and you could tell down the stretch they've been waiting for the postseason to begin as they cooled off here and there. The Sky should be decent sized favorites in this spot at home. With that said, the New York Liberty are playing their best ball of the season right now, and they have somebody in Ionescu, who is capable of taking over and making things hairy in a short series. The Liberty are a dangerous team, given that they got hot at the right time and are riding high on confidence. I'll take a shot with the road dog here.