Liberty vs. Sky Series Preview Odds, Picks & Predictions: Can the Liberty Make This a Series?

The WNBA regular season has come and gone, and now the playoff stage is set. Eight teams are in the playoffs, which start on Wednesday, August 17th. The first round matchups are below:

• 1 Seed Aces vs. 8 Seed Mercury
• 2 Seed Sky vs. 7 Seed Liberty
• 3 Seed Sun vs. 6 Seed Wings
• 4 Seed Storm vs. 5 Seed Mystics

One important scheduling note to make is that the first round series are a best of three, with the first two games hosted by the higher seed. What this means, though, is that if the lower seed forces a game three it will also be a home game for the lower seed in a do-or-die game.

In this article we will be previewing the series between the Liberty and the Sky.

Liberty vs. Sky Betting Preview

While the sportsbooks don’t list series odds, this is another example in which the home team is the heavy favorite. The Sky are the defending champs, and finished the season tied with the Aces with the best record in the WNBA.

In terms of game one odds, the Sky are clear favorites here, per the screenshot below.

They are favorites for good reason, too, finishing the regular season with the third-best net rating in the WNBA. They were tied with the Sun with the second-best offensive net rating, and finished fourth defensively.

So, this is a well-rounded squad that clearly has the championship pedigree after winning the title last year. They have a deep roster, led by Kahleah Copper and Candace Parker, who finished first and second, respectively, in terms of scoring on the Sky.

Courtney Vandersloot provided the most value on the Sky, though, with the Sky outscoring their opponents by 6.2 points per game specifically when Vandersloot was on the floor.

Vandersloot is also second in the WNBA in terms of assists per game, averaging 6.5.

If the Liberty are going to have a chance in this series, they are going to need to play with more consistency than they did in the regular season, and they are also going to need superstar Sabrina Ionescu to play at an MVP level.

Ionescu finished the regular season averaging 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game. That assist average, by the way, was good for third-best in the WNBA.

With Ionescu off the floor, the the Liberty offensive net rating drops by an astounding 18.6 points, by far the biggest drop off of any member of the team.

While I do think the Liberty have a chance to steal one game in the series, I have a hard time seeing them beat the Sky twice. Even with a possible third game being at home for the Liberty, the Sky are just too talented.

Liberty vs. Sky Betting Picks: Sky Win Series 2-1