The betting market often knows every development and detail. The only difference among bettors and oddsmakers is the reaction and opinion of them.
The Chicago Sky have lost starting point guard Courtney Vandersloot for the entire season, as she suffered a torn ACL in their most recent game. The 15-year veteran is the team’s captain and floor leader.
The market consensus agrees that this is a negative, but I believe this is a major setback for a team that is already limited offensively.
The Sky are just 2-5 and rank third-worst in points per game. Things are about to get much worse.
Rookie Hailey Van Lith figures to replace Vandersloot in the starting lineup, as she logged a season-high 26 minutes in Saturday’s loss after Vandersloot suffered the injury in the opening minutes.
Van Lith gained popularity in college and appeared in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, but her skill set leaves a lot to be desired.
She is too slow for this league and cannot generate many opportunities for her teammates, which contributed to Chicago only mustering 52 points in its last game.
Chicago is a 17.5-point road underdog against the Liberty on Tuesday with a total of 168 at FanDuel.
The Liberty are one of the WNBA’s two remaining unbeatens. The defending champs are significantly better, but center Jonquel Jones is expected to miss this game. The reigning Finals MVP rolled her ankle in their most recent game and did not return, although the team announced she avoided significant injury.
The Liberty have a deep team, but Jones is a vital part of their prowess.
If she misses this game, they will have their hands full at times defending Chicago’s young frontcourt duo of Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.
They aren’t elite scorers, but they can pose enough problems for a Liberty defense that plays without Jones.
In my opinion, that will slow down the pace and prevent the Liberty from scoring a boatload of points.
I think they will win by double digits, but without Vandersloot, Chicago will also try to minimize possessions and rely on half-court sets with a potential advantage down low.
I have a 47-40-1 ATS record in this Post sports section and have two plays for this game.
I will take Under 168 (-140, BetMGM) and Chicago’s team total Under 76 points.
Doug Kezirian is a New York Post contributor who has over two decades of experience in the betting space, including spending 11 years at ESPN as a host, columnist and betting analyst. He’s also the rare personality who has documented success – 14th place in 2023 Circa Million and Las Vegas SuperContest ($37K), two top-10 finishes in 2022 William Hill College Football Challenge ($58K) and also grabbed headlines with a $297K win on the 2021 NFL Draft.