Liberty at Sparks Preview: How & Who to Watch, Odds, and More

There's gold in California. For the New York Liberty, that treasure is a chance to build momentum for the Las Vegas Aces' impending visit this weekend.

A three-game road trip continues for New York on Tuesday night as the Liberty face the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena for the second time in three days. It's the second game of a three-contest trek that ends in Minnesota on Friday.

The Liberty nearly led wire-to-wire in the Sunday matchup, paced by 15 more triples en route to an 87-79 victory that perhaps got a little too interesting in the final stages as they watched a lead as high as 27 before staving off a comeback that inched as close as seven over the last stanzas. Breanna Stewart had 25 points in the win while Jonquel Jones had a serendipitous double-double at 13 points and rebounds each. The headliner, however, was perhaps Marine Johannes, who sank each of her first five triples while helping built the Liberty's first half advantage.

What: New York Liberty (19-6) @ Los Angeles Sparks (9-16)

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When/Watch: Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET, YES App/NBA TV

Who's Favored: NYL -8.5

Keep An Eye On: Courtney Vandersloot

As the Liberty continue to work through an unforgiving stretch of schedule (the three-day gap before they go to Minnesota is their longest time off since the WNBA resumed play after the All-Star break on July 19), Vandersloot got last Friday night off for load management purposes. Necessary as it may have been to keep Vandersloot fresh at the tail end of a four-game homestand over six days, there's no denying she was missed in an 88-83 loss to the Lynx defined by not-so-crisp ball movement and trigger-happy attempts from deep.

Vandersloot helped clean up the Liberty's act on Sunday, dishing out a game-best nine assists en route to victory, helping the team earn its third game with at least 15 triples (just the third team in WNBA history to earn that many, alongside last year's New Yorkers and the defending champion Aces). She also tallied eight points and six rebounds.

There's no denying that the Liberty could use a day off or two, even on an individual basis. But Vandersloot has added an undeniable level of offensive cohesion to a high-octane group still trying to discover its best basketball. The former Chicagoan is also closing in a major historic landmark: with 19 more assists, Vandersloot will pass Ticha Penicheiro for the second-most on the all-time ledger.

Spark to Watch: Karlie Samulson

The Liberty are perhaps a team defined by the dual concept of living and dying by the three-pointer: while they've capitalized on the offensive end (second in the WNBA in percentage as they embark on yet another historic season from deep), they're 10th out of 12 opposing percentage.

New York's struggles off the bench sans Stef Dolson have also prevented them from finding true basketball balance. Even if Johannes is starting to re-discover her game, they perhaps could use the relative reliability that the well-traveled Samuelson has provided. She's taking advantage of the best minutes-tally of her career (over 24 a game), averaging a career-best in scoring and sinking over 47 percent of her attempts from the field, including 44 percent from three-point range.

Prediction

Without much warning, there are suddenly only 15 games left on the Liberty docket. At times the Liberty have looked like a world-beater capable of busting Vegas but their continued struggle to play with a lead is something that the Aces will not only not forgive but relentlessly exploit.

Having mostly handled business two days ago, the Liberty now have a chance to do right against a team they mostly handled but is perhaps harboring some vital momentum from their valiant if not futile comeback. Knowing that dangerous challenges lie ahead ... an instant chance at revenge against the Lynx lies before the Aces' visit ... expect New York to continue to live up to the idea of doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well.

Liberty 88, Sparks 76

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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