Minnesota Lynx vs. New York Liberty Prediction: WNBA Odds, Game Preview
It’s just the second time the two teams have played this year, but due to a scheduling quirk, it is the first of three contests between them over the next nine days. This one will be missing some serious talent, as Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier (right ankle) and New York’s Breanna Stewart (right knee) are expected to miss the Sunday matinee.
The Lynx won three straight and seven of eight going into their home game against the Washington Mystics. The Liberty won two straight going into their game against the Dallas Wings.
Lynx vs. Liberty WNBA Odds and Betting Trends
Minnesota is 4-1-2 against the spread in its last seven games against the Liberty. The Lynx just missed covering a seven-point spread as favourites last month in a 100-93 victory over New York. The Lynx are 6-1-1 ATS in their last eight games, and have played to the over in their last five contests going into tonight’s Mystics matchup.
New York is 0-4-1 ATS in its last five games, but 8-5-1 ATS at home this season, where it has won 6-of-7 and is 13-3 overall. The Lynx are a league-best 10-4 on the road, and are 8-5 against the spread away from home.
New York Liberty
The Liberty have recovered from a season-high four-game losing streak, winning its last two games over the lowly Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings. Stewart, a seven-time All-Star and two-time league MVP, has now missed five games. The Liberty have gone 2-3 in those contests, including that loss at Minnesota last month.
The team received a major boost when Belgian forward Emma Meesseman, the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP who has won three straight EuroLeague Women’s MVP awards with Turkey’s Fenerbahce Safiport, recently joined the squad. Meesseman, who last played in the league with the Chicago Sky in 2022, scored in double digits in each of her first two games, both New York victories.
Minnesota Lynx
There’s been no stopping the Lynx to this point, but Collier’s extended absence comes at the wrong time, as she is set to miss all three of these upcoming games with New York. She led Minnesota with 30 points and nine rebounds in the win over the Liberty last month.
The five-time All-Star was the 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and finished second to the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson in the MVP race. Collier, the league’s leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, is currently the odds-on favourite at -750 to win MVP this season.
WNBA Prediction: Who Will Win Lynx vs. Liberty?
Without Collier, the Lynx will rely on Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams, Jessica Shephard and Alanna Smith to fill the gaps. Minnesota also got a boost of its own in newly acquired DiJonai Carrington, who was traded from the Wings. She had 13 points in her Lynx debut against Seattle on Tuesday.
New York counters with a squad that is getting used to playing without Stewart, and adding Meesseman to the mix does improve matters.
But Minnesota is not Dallas or Connecticut, even without Collier. The Lynx should pull out a tight victory on Sunday afternoon, 86-82.