Just when you thought the WNBA playoffs couldn’t get any more interesting, a pair of Game 3s left the basketball world speechless over the weekend.
A little over 48 hours later, we’re all set to run it back. If Aces-Storm or Sun-Sky is anything in Game 4 like they were in Game 3, we’ll be in for a treat.
So much is on the line. Can A’ja Wilson or Chelsea Gray deliver another wild performance to lift the Aces to the WNBA Finals, or will Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart force a Game 5? Is Candace Parker going to deliver Chicago to consecutive Finals appearances, or will reigning MVP Jonquel Jones have something to say about that?
Game 4, ladies and gents — here are the players to bet on.
All four of the higher WNBA seeds are now clicking and looking like they’re in comfortable control of their playoff futures, following the Chicago Sky’s dismantling of the New York Liberty on Saturday afternoon to even the series.
And as Saturday evening approaches, the Las Vegas Aces can be the first team to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
For Becky Hammon’s squad to advance, the task is simple — win. And with the Phoenix Mercury suffering another blow to the lineup, there’s really no excuse for A’ja Wilson and Co. not to put Game 2 away relatively quickly.
Without having watched, you could look at the final score of Wednesday’s Game 1 between the Aces and Mercury and conclude that Vegas’ 16-point margin of victory came easily. But that honestly wasn’t the case.
Inexplicably, the Aces struggled for much of the game to pull away from the Brittney Griner-Dianna Taurasi-Skylar Diggins-Smith-less Mercury. Chelsea Gray ultimately had a fourth-quarter takeover take the Aces’ lead from four to as many as 18 in a matter of minutes.
The Mercury, now without the Shey Peddy due to a torn Achilles in Game 1, are somehow running even lower on bodies and production. On top of Phoenix’s bad luck, I’d assume A’ja Wilson won’t shoot 2/11 from the field and be held under 10 points again, which makes a Las Vegas blowout win highly probable.
(Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports)
Player prop bets: Kelsey Plum – O 20.5 pts (-114), A’ja Wilson – O 9.5 rebs (-146)
We’re running it back with Plum and Wilson’s props since we had success with them in Game 1.
Let’s keep it simple — Kelsey Plum is a bucket. She averaged more than 20.0 points per game during this past regular season and scored 22 in the opening game of this series. The only thing that would stop her from a repeat performance of this round’s opening game is a lopsided score that leads to fewer-than-usual minutes from Plum.
A lopsided score could also cause A’ja Wilson’s stats to be quieter than usual, but you just take the chance. But it shouldn’t be too difficult for her to get to double-digit rebounds, regardless.
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It was just three days ago that the Sky appeared to be falling (pun intended), as the defending champions were stunned in the final minutes of their Game 1 loss to the New York Liberty.
But the champs had different plans for Game 2 — on Saturday, the Sky bounced back.
They bounced back and broke a WNBA record along the way.
Chicago’s 38-point win on Saturday afternoon over the Liberty broke a previous WNBA playoff record (a 36-point win by the Sky one postseason ago in their Game 3 win over Phoenix) for the largest margin of victory in a playoff game.
Chicago Sky win 100-62 to force a Game 3 in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
A 38-point win is the largest margin of victory in WNBA playoff history per @ESPNStatsInfo
From the jump, it was very clear that Game 2 would play out differently than Game 1.
Chicago’s defense set the tone early as it jumped all over the Liberty, forcing eight first-quarter turnovers, which led to a 31-10 Sky lead at the end of the first frame. From there, it was just a question of how bad the beatdown would get.
The answer was a record-breaking beating.
The Sky dominated the rest of the way and Kahleah Copper led all scorers with 20 points as Chicago scored a 100-62 Game 2 win.
(Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports)
The series will be decided on Tuesday evening when the Liberty and Sky clash at Barclays Center in Game 3.
Oh boy! The first couple of days of the 2022 WNBA playoffs have given us a little bit of everything.
From Connecticut’s dominance over Dallas in Game 1, a thriller between Seattle and Washington and Las Vegas handling business over superstar-talented-deprived Phoenix, we’ve had a lot to talk about.
But nothing has garnered more talking points than the Chicago-New York series, which saw the Liberty use a stunning 13-0 run over the final 3:20 to come from behind and shock the defending champs.
Now the question is whether or not bettors should risk wagering on the Sky to even the series.
In Game 1’s preview, I wrote specifically how the defending champion Sky wouldn’t lay an egg on their home court.
“Despite New York having all of the tools and personnel to steal Game 1, I’m not seeing it. Candace Parker won’t let her troops come out lackadaisical.”
As it turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The Sky did lay an egg late, but also, the Liberty’s talent that I referenced ended up being more than Chicago could handle down the stretch of the game.
Chicago struggled to defend the pick and roll. Sabrina Ionescu and Marine Johannes operated quite comfortably on offense before Ionescu took command down the stretch. Natasha Howard, Betnijah Laney and Stefani Dolson were also excellent from start to finish.
And while it would be unsurprising for everything to click again for the Liberty’s offense in Game 2, I’ll still take my chances with the defending champs figuring out how to avoid first-round elimination on Saturday.
(Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports)
Player prop bets: Natasha Howard – O 7.5 rebs (-113), Candace Parker – O 15.5 pts (-114), O 4.5 asts (-136)
The New York Liberty are a well-rounded rebounding team. Sabrina Ionescu gets her share of boards, as do Stef Dolson and 6-foot-10 Han Xu. But their leader in that area is Natasha Howard, who averaged 7.3 rebounds during the regular season. Howard has teetered around seven boards per game over her last few seasons, so expecting her to grab any more is certainly a risk. I’m willing to take that risk, though, ahead of Game 2.
So, here’s the thing — Candance Parker ain’t going down without a fight. Regardless of if Chicago wins or loses, Parker will do her part. It’s that simple. I’m expecting some near triple-double type of numbers on Saturday from one of the WNBA’s greatest.
Game Lines
Spread: Chicago Sky -8.5 (-110)
Moneyline: Chicago Sky (-450), New York Liberty (+330)
Point Total: O 168.5 (-112), U 186.5 (-108)
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What better way to start the playoffs than by having one of the best highlights of the day?
Game 1’s first quarter between the Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun closed with one of the more fun and jaw-dropping moments we might see the rest of the postseason.
Wings forward, Satou Sabally, absolutely launched a hail mary shot from the other end of the court before the opening quarter’s time expired.
What she found was the bottom of the net.
“Half-court heave by Sabally… AND SHE GETS IT!”
Check out the ridiculous, line-drive shot that you’ll be seeing retweeted throughout your social media feeds for the rest of the night.
Game 1 of the WNBA Playoffs between the New York Liberty and Chicago Sky was a stunner.
The reigning 2021 WNBA champions — the Sky — fell to the Liberty 98-91 off the back of Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Howard scoring 22 points each. Not to be outdone, however, was Marine Johannes, who made an absolutely ridiculous solo effort play in the fourth quarter.
With the Sky up 91-85, Johannes started the Liberty’s rally off of this brilliant no-look backwards pass to Howard for the easy up and in. It’s a truly spectacular solo effort here from Johannes, who trusts Howard to be in the right place at the right time for the grab and score.
In the end, the Liberty were able to hold the Sky scoreless for over three minutes as they battled back to win Game 1. What a gusty play from Johannes and what a win for New York!
The 2022 WNBA postseason is here! Which teams will advance past the opening round?
Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls.
Here. We. Go.
The 2022 WNBA Playoffs have arrived and after an entertaining regular season saw top teams jostle in the standings for months, while the lower seeds weren’t determined until the final day of games.
Now that the field is set (in its new-and-improved playoff format) the canvas is blank, the players will take the court and determine what happens next. And it’s on us to guess how it’ll all unfold.
No random guesses allowed, though. Instead, here are some brief but detailed previews of every first-round series that’ll help you out before you bet.
