The WNBA season has finally arrived. It was a long wait to get WNBA games, but the season tips off on Friday with the New York Liberty, who formed a super team, meeting championship contender the Washington Mystics.
The Liberty are +140, the second best WNBA odds, to win the title as some of the best WNBA players have joined Sabrina Ionescu.
Here is a breakdown of each team, Liberty vs Mystics odds, game information and betting picks.
New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics Odds
Spread: Liberty vs Mystics odds show the Liberty are favored at -3 with -110 odds on either side of the spread.
Over/Under: The over/under is 162.5 points, with -110 odds on either side of the spread.
The Liberty’s implied team total is 83 points, and the Mystics’ implied team total is 80 points, with all sides of the spreads at -115 odds.
The Liberty won two of the three games last season from the Mystics in which all games were decided by nine points or less.
New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics Information
New York Liberty vs Washington Mystics
Location of the game: Entertainment and Sports Arena, Washington DC.
Date & Time: Friday, May 19. 7:00 p.m. ET.
How to watch: NBC Sports Washington | NBA TV | WNBA League Pass
New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics Preview
New York Liberty
It is not often that a team which finished 16-20 the season before becomes an instant championship contender. It was shocking WNBA news when the Liberty added former league MVP Breanna Stewart, arguably the best point guard of all-time in Courtney Vandersloot, and veteran forward and defensive standout Jonquel Jones.
Adding that trio in and of itself would make the Liberty championship contenders, but their core was built around Ionescu, who averaged 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game last season. The Liberty also have Stefanie Dolson, a veteran center who started all 36 games last season and averaged 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds across 22.9 minutes per game.
Stewart won the MVP award in 2018 and is a four-time All-Star. Last season with Seattle, she averaged 21.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and shot 37.9% on 3-pointers as a 6-foot-4 forward.
Then Vandersloot leaves Chicago for the first time since her career began in 2011. She has three All-Star appearances in her last four seasons and has 2,386 career assists. Jones was the MVP in 2021 and is a former Defensive Player of the Year winner, too.
Washington Mystics
The Mystics are coming off a 22-14 season, which tied for fourth in the standings but earned them the fifth seed in the playoffs. Everything revolves around Elena Delle Donne, the 33-year-old veteran who is 6-5 and can play on the perimeter and take mismatches down to the post.
She enters her 10th season, her sixth with the Mystics, looking to win her second WNBA championship, which came in 2019. Delle Donne is hoping to be fully healthy as she sat out in 2020, came off the bench in 2021, and started 25 games last season, when she averaged 17.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists per game, and shot 36.8% on 3-pointers.
She has veterans around her, including Tianna Hawkins and guards Kristi Toliver, Brittney Sykes, Jazmine Jones, Natasha Cloud, and Ariel Atkins.
The Mystics are +1400, the fourth-best odds, to win the WNBA championship.
New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics Betting Picks
Early public betting data on Liberty vs Mystics odds show that 69% of bettors are on the Liberty to cover the spread, and 67% are on the over.
Those seem like logical plays, except the injury report released by the Liberty includes Jones (questionable, foot), Vandersloot (probable, concussion), and Nyara Sabally (questionable, undisclosed).
But losing two starters would be critical to their success and deflate an anticipated debut from one of the top two championships contenders. Thus, we would wait until closer to game time but will take Liberty -3.
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