NY Liberty vs. Dallas Wings preview: Liberty play two in Texas

In their chase for the one seed, the New York Liberty head south for a two game series vs. the Dallas Wings

A win, but plenty of questions remain. The New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday afternoon, but they let a 20 point lead slip away in the process and gave fans nightmares about last year’s WNBA Finals. The seafoam are 29-6, but they still have some things to clean up before the postseason starts.

The opponent tonight is playing out the string after an incredibly disappointing season. The Dallas Wings had a chance to keep their season alive, but they lost 92-77 on Sunday to the Chicago Sky. They are officially eliminated from the playoff race.

Where to follow the game

CBS Sports Network is the place to be. Tip after 8:00 p.m. ET.

Injuries

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton left Sunday’s game with an incredibly frightening right knee injury. On Monday, Myles Ehrlich of Winsidr shared an updated on Bee:

Jackie Powell of The Next later reported that Laney-Hamilton traveled with the team to Dallas. She is officially listed as questionable.

Stephanie Soares is out for Dallas.

The game

The Liberty won games one and two.

Dallas poses an interesting challenge for the Liberty. They have a big frontcourt featuring former Liberty All Star, Natasha Howard, Teaira McCowan, and the amazing Satou Sabally. That size has helped the Wings to be the third best rebounding team in the W this year. In theory, that should’ve helped them even with Sabally missing all of the action pre Olympics break. However…

Dallas has been the worst defensive team in the league this season. Since the break, they’ve allowed 113.7 points per 100 possessions on defense. Considering the talent on the roster, they should’ve been a lot better than what they have been in 2024. For Greg Bibb and Wings management, they have a lot to figure out as the Wings move into an uncertain future.

For the Liberty, if the offense is on point, they’ll be able to take full advantage of Dallas’ defensive struggles. The team is at their best when the ball is moving side-to-side and they’re getting out in transition. That especially makes life easy for Breanna Stewart. When Stewie catches the ball on the go, she’s unstoppable and is a matchup nightmare for whoever’s guarding her.

Player to watch: Arike Ogunbowale

Every week, our pal Dano Mataya shares his WNBA tiers. And every week, people ask what does the Arike tier mean? Well…

Heh.

Jokes aside, Ogunbowale has put together another banner season. The Wings have had some point guard issues, so Arike has had to take on more playmaking duties this season. She’s paid it off with a career high assist percentage and five dimes a night. That’s a nice plus one to her continued scoring prowess. She’s second in the league in scoring at 22.6 points a night. However, it’s a difficult 22 as she has shooting splits of .380/.343/.926. Assuming Laney-Hamilton is out, Arike’s former teammate Kayla Thornton will get the assignment. KT has been a terrific defender and her strength and length gives the best scorers in the league trouble. Thornton has been excellent for the Liberty and the team will count on her expertise tonight.

So, Sabrina Ionescu has had a rough go of it recently. She hasn’t shot above above 50 percent since before the All Star break and has only crossed the 40 percent marker three times in eight games following the Olympics. Her shot diet has been incredibly difficult, as Lucas explained

There’s a balance between being able to make tough shots and relying too much on tough shots. We’ve seen Ionescu find buckets within the flow of the offense, and the Liberty will need her to make things a bit easier on herself as we head into the postseason.

From the Vault

Ones in the air for James Earl Jones.

More reading: Swish Appeal, The Strickland, The Local W, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic. Fansided, Just Women’s Sports, SI All Knicks, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, CBS Sports, and The Next