Liberty Starting To Figure Things Out
Seattle is looking to sweep the season series against New York after winning 79-71 and 92-61 in May with both games being played in Seattle. A key for the Storm in those contests was limiting New York guard Sabrina Ionescu to 14 points on 6-of-21 shooting.
Seattle has won five of the last six games played in New York. Overall, Seattle is 7-1 in the last eight matchups with the Liberty.
This will be the final game of a five-game road trip for Seattle. The Storm won the first three games on the trip before falling 82-71 at Connecticut on Friday night.
Seattle is 4-3 in the month of June while New York is 5-2 in June.
Seattle (+600) has the fourth-best odds to win the WNBA championship according to the sportsbook. New York is well back at +10000.
Let’s check the latest NBA picks, stats, injury reports, and NBA odds for Storm vs Liberty . We’ve plenty of NBA championship odds for you to consider.
Seattle’s Bird Heading to New York One Last Time
Seattle guard Sue Bird, the WNBA’s career assists leader, will be playing her second game since she announced that this would be her final season.
I’ve decided this will be my final year. I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first ☺️ #TheFinalYear @seattlestorm pic.twitter.com/Uo2YqCCKUD
— Sue Bird (@S10Bird) June 16, 2022
Her first game came on Friday at Connecticut, the state where she rose to prominence while leading UConn to a pair of national titles. Now the New York native will play her final regular-season game in her home state.
Bird has scored in double figures in each of her last three games in New York with the visiting Storm winning each contest. She has had at least 10 assists in three of her last seven games in New York.
Bird had a strong start in the game at Connecticut on Friday with a pair of 3-pointers and an assist on a Breanna Stewart 3-pointer as Seattle jumped out to an 11-4 lead. Bird had 11 of her 14 points in the first half. Her final basket of the game came 18 seconds in the third quarter. Bird’s 14 points were three off her season-high also done against Connecticut.
She is averaging career lows with 7.8 points per game and a 33.6 field-goal percentage.
Seattle has failed to cover against the Las Vegas odds in five of its last seven games.
Howard Key Cog for Liberty
The New York Liberty has one of the youngest teams in the WNBA but it is the play of one of the three players at least 30 years ago who has become the key to the LIberty’s success.
When 30-year-old Natasha Howard is averaging 18.3 points and 7.2 rebounds in the six New York wins. Those numbers drop to 13 points and 6.1 rebounds in the nine losses. New York is 0-4 when Howard scores less than 10 points.
With Howard handling much of the heavy lifting, it has allowed guard Sabrina Ionescu and forward Han Xu to have more freedom on offense. Ionescu is averaging 22 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.9 assists in seven games played in June while Xu is putting up 10.4 points and 4 rebounds during the month.
Something of note for those who bet online, the Liberty have covered in six of their last seven games.
Storm vs Liberty Game Information
- Game: Storm 9-6 (3-3 on the road); Liberty 6-9 (4-5 at home)
- Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn
- Day/Time: Sunday, 12 p.m. ET
- Live Stream: WNBA Live
Storm vs Liberty Prediction
Expect to see plenty of 3-pointers. Seattle leads the WNBA with an average of 9.3 made 3-pointers per game while New York has averaged a WNBA-high 27.5 3-pointers per game.
This game features four former No. 1 overall picks with Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd starting for Seattle and Ionescu leading New York.
Four of the last six games between Seattle and New York have gone under the total while the home team has won four of the last five games in the series.
New York has won its last four games when the game finishes under the total while Seattle is just 1-8 against the spread in its last nine road games.
New York ranks seventh and Seattle 10th among 12 WNBA teams in field-goal percentage so this game could come down to which team gets on a hot streak especially from the perimeter as both squads rely heavily on the 3-pointer.
