Ionescu leads New York against Los Angeles after a 30-point performance

New York Liberty (21-4, 15-2 Eastern Conference) at Los Angeles Sparks (6-18, 4-10 Western Conference)

Los Angeles; Thursday, 9:00 PM EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Liberty -11.5; over/under is 166

Bottom line: The New York Liberty take on the Los Angeles Sparks after Sabrina Ionescu scored 30 points in the Liberty’s 82-74 win over the Connecticut Sun.

The Sparks went 4-8 at home. Los Angeles is sixth in the WNBA with 20.2 assists per game. Aari McDonald leads the Sparks with a 4.0 GPA.

The Liberty are 9-3 on the road. New York is fifth in the Eastern Conference with 7.1 offensive rebounds per game led by Jonquel Jones’ 1.6 average.

Los Angeles’ average of 7.5 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.3 more shots per game than the 7.2 New York is allowing. New York is averaging 10.3 3-pointers per game this season, 2.0 more than Los Angeles’ 8.3.

The teams meet for the third time this season. In the last game on June 22, Liberty won 98-88 led by Breanna Stewart’s 33 points while Dearica Hamby scored 20 points for the Sparks.

PERFORMERS: Hamby is averaging 19.2 points, 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Sparks.

Ionescu is averaging 19.8 points and 6.1 assists for Liberty.

LAST 10 GAMES: Sparks: 2-8, averaging 80.9 points, 30.5 rebounds, 21.4 assists, 7.1 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field land Their opponents averaged 87.3 points per game.

Freedom: 9-1, averaging 84.7 points, 32.9 rebounds, 23.4 assists, 7.3 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.4 percent from the field. Their opponents averaged 75.3 points.

INJURIES: Sparks: Julie Allemand: out for season (ankle), Cameron Brink: out for season (acl), Lexie Brown: out (chronic illness).

Liberty: Betnijah Laney-Hamilton: Out (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Date Write and data from Sportradar.