Liberty vs. Sparks prediction and odds for Tuesday, Aug. 1 (Fade banged up Sparks)
By Peter Dewey
The Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty will face off for the second time in as many games on Tuesday night.
The Liberty won the first meeting in Los Angeles by eight points, but the team comes into this game favored by nine.
New York is 19-6 on the season and 9-2 on the road, but it has only gone 4-7 against the spread on the road.
That could make it tough to back the Liberty, even though they are clearly the better team in this matchup.
Los Angeles is just 2-8 in its last 10 games and has slipped to 9-16 on the season. A big reason for that has been the team’s injury report, which features four of the Sparks’ key rotation players.
Los Angeles Sparks injury report
- Nia Clouden (out)
- Chiney Ogwumike (out)
- Lexie Brown (out)
- Katie Lou Samuelson (out)
Can Los Angeles overcome this to cover?
Here are the latest odds in this matchup:
Liberty vs. Sparks odds, spread and total
Liberty vs. Sparks prediction and pick
Even though the Liberty didn’t cover this number in the last meeting between these two teams, I think this line is still favorable for Breanna Stewart and company.
Dearica Hamby, who averages just 9.6 points per game, scored 21 for the Sparks in the loss on Sunday, and it’s hard to see that team getting the same production again in this matchup.
Without Brown and Ogwumike, the Sparks have much less room for error in this game.
The key advantage for New York comes on offense, where the team is No. 2 in offensive rating compared to Los Angeles at No. 10.
The Liberty are also the best 3-point shooting team in the WNBA while the Sparks are 11th.
As long as this spread stays under double digits, the Liberty are the bet to make on Tuesday.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.