New York Liberty vs Portland Fire Point Spread Picks

New York plays its third straight on the road, off a 98-96 loss to this Portland squad as a double-digit favorite. New York was short-handed, with Sabrina Ionescu (foot injury) out. She was their second-leading scorer (18.2 ppg) last season while leading the Liberty in assists (5.7 per game). New York is on a 6-20-1 ATS run, including 0-10 ATS as double-digit chalk. Portland plays its third straight at home, where it has drawn huge crowds, including the second-largest WNBA home-opener crowd in history, with 19,335 on Saturday. Play Portland. 

After one game, there is a huge positive you can say about expansion Portland: the Fire get great fan support. They drew a packed house of 19,335 for their opening game, a 98-83 opening loss to the Sky this past Saturday. Portland is a big underdog here, hosting powerhouse New York in its second game of the season, but this is a good time and situation for the Fire to cover. It is the Liberty's third game in five days and its second consecutive away matchup. It took overtime for the Liberty to beat Washington, 98-93, on Sunday. The Mystics were 16-28 last year. The Liberty has tremendous star power and outstanding depth. Both will be tested, as New York will be without Sabrina Ionescu (left foot) and will likely be missing Satou Sabally (cyst), two of the top 25 players in the league. New York will also be missing rotation player Leonie Fiebich, who is fulfilling an overseas commitment, and could also be without Rebecca Allen (left leg). The Liberty are averaging 102 points a game while Portland surrendered 98 points to Chicago in its lone game. The Fire's offense should be better after playing a game, while the Liberty's defense is far from peak efficiency. Take the points with the Fire.