Liberty at Lynx Preview: How & Who To Watch, Odds, and More (8/4)

In a prelude to their highly anticipated showdown against the Las Vegas Aces, the New York Liberty have a chance for revenge against the Minnesota Lynx.

Author:
Geoff Magliocchetti
Aug 4, 2023 4:50 PM EDT

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New York Liberty

For the New York Liberty, any hope of a no-rough-stuff type of deal in a visit to Minnesota vanished last week.

New York has won six of its past seven games, all of which were staged over the past dozen days. The lone blemish in that span was a loss to the Minnesota Lynx at Barclays Center exactly one week ago and the Liberty will have a chance for revenge when they travel to Target Center on Friday night. Despite seven triples from Sabrina Ionescu en route to a 31-point outing, the Liberty dropped an 88-83 decision. It was the second half of a back-to-back for the Liberty and a rescheduled date after the original get-together in June was pushed back due to drifted haze from Canadian wildfires.

That win in Brooklyn was the middle leg of a three-game winning streak for Minnesota, one snapped on Tuesday to the tune of a 79-69 decision in favor of the Connecticut Sun. The Lynx have nonetheless won four of their last six and are 9-5 since a 4-9 start.

This will be the Liberty's final tune-up before a busy stretch ends in style on Sunday, as the league-leading Las Vegas Aces visit Barclays Center for the first of four meetings over this month.

What: New York Liberty (20-6) @ Minnesota Lynx (13-14)

Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

When/Watch: Friday, 8 p.m. ET, Ion

Who's Favored: NYL -9.5

Keep An Eye On: Courtney Vandersloot

While a good part of New York fought off sleep, Vandersloot rose in perhaps one of the gutsiest efforts of the Liberty's challenging yet potentially endlessly rewarding season.

Leaving the game in the first half due to an ankle injury while setting a screen, Vandersloot limped to the locker room but returned with a vengeance, sinking four triples and scoring 20 of her 23 points over the final 20 minutes en route to a career-best in a New York uniform. Vandersloot has another prime opportunity to prove her worth on Friday night: in a case of load management, she didn't play in Minnesota's visit to Brooklyn last week. With the flow of Vandersloot overseeing the distribution, the Liberty became trigger-happy in defeat, shooting just over 36 percent in a futile comeback including 3-of-21 from three-point range when Ionescu's tally was removed from the equation.

As the Liberty work through a daunting stretch, the seemingly endless flow of games has allowed Vandersloot to close in on history: entering Friday action, she's 15 assists away from passing Ticha Penicheiro for the second-most in WNBA history.

Minnesotan to Watch: Dorka Juhasz

Minnesota's recent success has come without the services of franchise face Naphessa Collier, who has missed the last three games with an ankle injury. Thanks to the efforts of young talents like Juhasz and Diamond Miller, Minnesota has not only been able to keep pace in the WNBA playoff picture but establish itself as no easy out.

The Liberty were haunted by the prescience of Miller in the last matchup, but Juhasz, one of the more pleasant surprises of the recent draft, present a threat to New York's recent dominance on the glass. Juhasz brought in six offensive boards alone in the Lynx's win on Atlantic Avenue, part of a dominant stretch where she has averaged 9.4 rebounds in the seven games since post-All-Star action resumed.

Of note, both Juhasz and Collier are listed as questionable for Friday's game.

Prediction

It'd be foolish to call Friday's visit to Minnesota a trap game ... the Lynx are a good team and New York would be wise to stave off Connecticut for the third seed to avoid a best-of-three get-together in the postseason's opening round ... but the considerable hype around Las Vegas' visit complicates matters.

If there's one thing that the Liberty continue to do well, however, it's take care of business. They know how to pack away emotion when it matters and Friday should be no exception, especially when they're looking for revenge.