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Sky-Liberty Preview

Sep 2, 2015 - 5:59 PM With the New York Liberty boasting the WNBA's best defense and the Chicago Sky touting its highest-scoring offense, Thursday night's matchup figures to be a tightly contested matchup.

It may not live up to that billing if the Sky are still without their top two scorers, however.

The Liberty (21-8) limit opponents to 70.2 points per game, and have won nine of 11. Tuesday's 80-75 overtime victory against Atlanta brought them within two wins of clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference and one shy of matching the single-season franchise record from 2010.

"It's definitely in our minds that we want to get the No. 1 seed," said Tina Charles, who is averaging a team-high 17.8 points.

Chicago is averaging 82.5 points, but the club was kept in check in an 84-63 loss at New York on Aug. 11, putting the Liberty in position to sweep the four-game season series. Elena Delle Donne, whose 23.9 points per game lead the league, did not play due to a sprained ankle.

Delle Donne returned for the next four games but has missed the last two with a foot injury and her status is uncertain.

Cappie Pondexter is Chicago's second-leading scorer with 15.0 points per game and scored a team-high 23 in that loss at Madison Square Garden, but she sat out Sunday's 72-68 loss to Connecticut after suffering a concussion in a 98-96 win at Atlanta on Saturday. She's being evaluated based on the league's concussion protocol.

The Sky (18-12) are tied with Indiana for second in the East but hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series 4-0 with three victories coming by 23-plus points. Catching New York for first place is far-fetched, though, as they must win out while the Liberty would have to lose their remaining games.

Chicago blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak. Courtney Vandersloot led the team with 18 points without Delle Donne and Pondexter.

While the Sky's offense could be limited, Sugar Rodgers may have broken out of her slump for the Liberty. She matched a career high with 23 points against the Dream - two fewer than she had totaled over her previous six contests. Rodgers, who was 5 of 12 from 3-point range, hadn't scored in double figures since a 10-point performance at Phoenix on July 18.

"I knew something was coming, I just had to be patient," she said.

Epiphanny Prince could also be in for a big night considering she had a season-high 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting in a 77-63 win at Chicago on Aug. 7.

The Liberty, who had dropped six straight home meetings prior to last month's victory, have won eight of their last nine at Madison Square Garden.