The Dallas Wings (16-8) return to the College Park Center to host the New York Liberty (13-11) on Thursday night. Dallas earned its fifth straight victory with a 96-91 win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday at the American Airlines Center.
The Wings have made a habit this season of coming back late in games, and Sunday against the Sky was the latest example. Dallas enters the game riding a five-game winning streak while New York enters the game riding a three-game losing streak.
New York entered the season
with high hopes of being a top team in the W, but the Liberty have struggled lately as they have lost seven of their last nine games. The latest was a 93-91 loss to the Toronto Tempo on Sunday.
Sabrina Ionescu on the rise
Despite the three-game losing streak, Sabrina Ionescu is starting to heat up. She led the Liberty with 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 shooting from the 3-point line on Sunday. It was the second straight game that Ionescu scored at least 20 points. She scored 25 points in the 90-85 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on July 11.
Ionescu has played in 12 games this season because of a preseason ankle injury that delayed her start to the season and a back injury that sidelined her for three weeks. Because of the injuries, it has taken some time for Ionescu to get into her usual form. She has averaged 18 points per game the last two seasons and was an WNBA All-Star and All-WNBA player for the last four seasons.
Ionescu heating up can cause problems for the Dallas defense as New York also has Breanna Stewart, who is averaging 20.4 points per game.
Defending New York’s shooting
The game between the Wings and Liberty features two of the top-five teams shooting well from the field in the W. Dallas enters the game fourth in the W with an average of 46.3% shooting from the field while New York enters the game with an average of 45.9% shooting from the field.
Dallas knows how to defend New York as the Wings limited the Liberty under 45.9% shooting from the field in the last two games this season. New York shot 38.9% from the field on May 24 and shot 40% on July 7 against the Wings.
However, Dallas has struggled in the last two games. Toronto shot 54.7% from the field and Chicago shot 48% from the field. Both performances led to close games that forced Dallas to rely on Paige Bueckers for some fourth quarter magic. Dallas will need to remember how it played against New York to keep its winning streak.
Alanna Smith injury bad luck
Alanna Smith suffered a lower leg injury in the first half against the Chicago Sky and was ruled out for the rest of the game. Her status for the game is doubtful for tomorrow as she adds another injury to the list of injuries she has suffered this season.
Her first injury was a nasal fracture in the preseason game against the Las Vegas Aces on May 3. She was not sidelined because she wore a mask to protect her nose, but her play suffered as the mask limited her vision.
Then, she entered concussion protocol and missed four games. She returned mask free on July 2 and played on a minute restriction in the 86-83 win over the Connecticut Sun. She played 15:30 in the game against the Liberty on July 7 and started developing a rhythm coming off the bench until the latest injury against Chicago. Now, Dallas will look to Li Yueru and Alysha Clark for post help off the bench against New York.
How to watch
The Wings and Liberty tipoff at 8 p.m. on Thursday night at the College Park Center. The game will be broadcast on Prime Video.
