New York Liberty (16-20, 10-8 Eastern Conference) at Chicago Sky (26-10, 15-3 Eastern Conference)
Chicago; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Sky host the New York Liberty to start the first round of the WNBA playoffs. Chicago went 3-1 against New York during the regular season. The Sky won the last regular season matchup 89-81 on July 30. Courtney Vandersloot led the Sky with 23 points, and Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 16 points.
The Sky are 15-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Chicago is third in the WNBA with 24.3 assists per game. Vandersloot leads the Sky averaging 6.5.
The Liberty are 10-8 against Eastern Conference teams. New York is sixth in the WNBA with 27.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Ionescu averaging 6.1.
TOP PERFORMERS: Vandersloot is averaging 11.6 points and 6.5 assists for the Sky. Kahleah Copper is averaging 18.4 points over the last 10 games for Chicago.
Ionescu is scoring 17.4 points per game and averaging seven rebounds for the Liberty. Natasha Howard is averaging 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds over the last 10 games for New York.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sky: 6-4, averaging 87.2 points, 32.5 rebounds, 24.9 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 87.4 points per game.
Liberty: 7-3, averaging 81.6 points, 35.8 rebounds, 21.5 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76 points.
INJURIES: Sky: None listed.
Liberty: Jocelyn Willoughby: out (quad).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
