Sunday's Best WNBA Bet
New York Liberty at Indiana Fever (-4, 149)
The math is easy for the Indiana Fever: one victory extends the team’s season – a loss ends it.
Indiana was cruising in first place in the Eastern Conference for much of the year but stumbled late, and now finds itself in a one-game-to-none hole in its best-of-three series with New York. The Liberty took Game 1 in the Big Apple, 85-73. But that’s been the norm lately between these two squads.
The Liberty are 3-2 against Indiana this year, but have won three straight, including an 82-72 win in the Hoosier state earlier this month. The key to victory for the Liberty has been the team’s suffocating defense. In the team’s five meetings this year, Indiana has cracked the 80-point plateau only once – and that was in overtime.
On the other end of the floor, Indiana has struggled because the Liberty are thriving when the Fever take away their No. 1 option, MVP candidate Cappie Pondexter (21.9 ppg). In the Game 1 victory, reserve Essence Carson scored a season-high 17 to balance out a franchise playoff-record 28 from Pondexter.
"In the fourth quarter, we needed a lift offensively," Pondexter told the New York Daily News. "My shots weren't falling, we made a couple turnovers, we couldn't get the shots we wanted, but there's Essence Carson. What do you know? She stepped up. That's what makes it great, especially this time of year, when we have players that can step up like that in a big game, it means a lot."
The Fever need offense and answers. They should have a long offseason to look for both.
Pick: Liberty
NEW YORK (23 - 12) at INDIANA (21 - 14)
Top Trends for this game.
NEW YORK is 7-1 ATS (+5.9 Units) when playing with 2 days rest this season.
NEW YORK is 68-44 ATS (+19.6 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1997.
NEW YORK is 82-58 ATS (+18.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15+ games since 1997.
INDIANA is 45-70 ATS (-32.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15+ games since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 7-5 against the spread versus NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA is 8-4 straight up against NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
7 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NEW YORK vs. INDIANA
New York is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
New York is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road
Indiana is 15-7 ATS in its last 22 games when playing New York
Indiana is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing New York