Atlanta Dream vs. New York Liberty Prediction, Preview and Odds - 5/29/21
A pair of Eastern Conference teams are on the floor in WNBA action in the Big Apple. The Atlanta Dream are on the road as they make the trip to face the New York Liberty Saturday afternoon. Atlanta comes in off a 101-95 home victory over Dallas in their most recent contest Thursday night. New York picked up an 88-81 home victory over Dallas in their most recent contest Monday night in the second game of a back-to-back set. Last season, the Dream took both meetings between the teams in the bubble, including a 62-56 win as the “road” team in the most recent matchup on September 3, 2020. That gave the Dream five wins in the last seven meetings between the teams.
Atlanta Dream Try to Keep Rolling
Atlanta won their third straight game after a 0-2 start as they outgunned Dallas in a wild contest Thursday night. The Dream entered Friday holding the fifth playoff spot in the field and look to maintain their momentum here. Against Dallas, Atlanta led by two after the opening quarter and used a 7-0 run to break a 38-38 tie midway through the second quarter. The Dream didn’t look back as the Wings, despite hanging close, couldn’t get closer than three the rest of the way. Atlanta shot 48% from the field, including six of 20 from three-point range, and owned a 45-32 advantage on the glass in the contest. Tiffany Hayes poured in 26 points to lead the Dream in the victory.
The Dream is 5th in the league in scoring offense coming into this contest as they average 83.6 points a game this season. Atlanta is 11th in the league in rebounding (33 boards a night) and stands 11th in assists with an average of 17.2 per game. The Dream are eighth in the league in scoring defense as they allow an average of 84 points a contest this season. Tiffany Hayes leads the team and is one of three players for the Dream scoring in double figures as she puts up 17.8 points a night. Chennedy Carter contributes 16.4 points plus 3.8 assists per contest. Odyssey Sims, Crystal Bradford, Tianna Hawkins, Elizabeth Williams, Monique Billings, Courtney Williams (17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds), Aari McDonald and Shekinna Strickland are other key rotation pieces for coach Nicki Collen. The Dream are 8th in field goal percentage as they shoot 41.1% from the floor as a team. Atlanta stands tied for sixth in threes per game (6.6) and 6th in three-point percentage as they hit 35.5% of their long-range attempts. The Dream is 11th in the league in free throw percentage as they shoot 71.4% from the stripe as a team this year. Cheyenne Parker remains in the league’s health and safety protocols and likely is out for this contest.
New York Liberty Rested and Ready
New York won their second straight as they took both ends of a back-to-back set by downing the Wings at home Monday. That gave the Liberty a few days of rest before this contest: they entered Friday tied with the Sun for the top record in the league. Against Dallas, New York trailed by five after the opening quarter and by eight with 2:28 to play in the first half before taking control. The Liberty used an 18-2 run to span both halves to take a 49-41 lead and didn’t let the Wings closer than two the rest of the way en route to the win. New York shot 46.7% from the field, including 10 of 25 from three-point range, and cashed in 22 of their 27 free throw attempts in the victory. Betnijah Laney put up 26 points to pace the Liberty in the win.
The Liberty comes into this contest 4th in the league in scoring offense with an average of 83.7 points per game. New York is ninth in rebounding (34.5 boards a night) and third with 20.5 assists per contest. The Liberty ranks sixth in the league in scoring defense by allowing 82.3 points per game. Betnijah Laney leads the Liberty with 22.7 points plus four assists a night this season. Sabrina Ionescu (18.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 7.8 assists) and Michaela Onyenwere (9.3 points, three boards) are also capable scoring options. Sami Whitcomb, Natasha Howard (14.5 points), Kylee Shook, Rebecca Allen, Jazmine Jones, Reshanda Gray and DiDi Richards are key contributors for coach Walt Hopkins. New York is 3rd in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 45.2% from the floor as a team. The Liberty is leading the league in made threes per game (11.5) while ranking first in three-point shooting at 43.7%. New York is 4th in free throw percentage as they cash in 80.6% of their chances at the stripe. Howard is expected to miss four to six weeks with a sprained MCL sustained May 24 against Dallas.
Pick: New York Liberty
Even with the Dream winning three straight games coming into this one, it’s hard to have a ton of faith in them on the road here. New York has already won more games than they did in the bubble last season as Laney and Ionescu have revitalized the franchise. We’ve seen the Liberty burn teams from the perimeter as they lead the league in three-point field goal percentage. Throw in that the Liberty are third in field goal percentage defense (40.3%) and the Dream struggle to shoot the ball with any regularity and it makes things a little tougher for Atlanta. Losing Howard is a blow for the Liberty but she had played in only two of the team’s first six games as it was. Playing at home, look for New York to come up with a victory in this contest.
Total: Over
Atlanta has seen the under hit in three of their five games but their first matchup with the Sky fell half a point short while their win over Indiana fell 1.5 points shy of the mark. We saw what can happen when the Dream locks up with a team that likes to push the pace and run in Thursday’s contest with the Wings. New York isn’t quite as up-tempo as Dallas but we have seen them go over the total in four of their six games. The game with Dallas, while falling short, missed the total by just half a point so they barely came up short. This one is going to end up over the total as the Dream continues their recent offensive surge.
