No Liberty play for me but I¡¯ll cheer on the backers I¡¯ve seen. Love to fade Phoenix but I don¡¯t want to lay 14. It helps that NYL is coming off a loss but they¡¯re still 6-3 and probably pretty satisfied with their success so far considering all the new pieces. Mercury are far less talented but also far more desperate. See how it looks at half
Looking good for Liberty backers. I really wish injury reporting for the WNBA was a little better. I tend to check covers, ESPN, and rotowire but still there are surprises or reports that come in right before or even once the game has already started. I sort of assumed -14 meant no Griner or DT but couldn¡¯t find confirmation anywhere.
If anyone has other/better resources, please share :) Maybe some solid people to follow on that bird app? I don¡¯t use it much but I *would* for this reason, haha
On that note, anyone got injury info for the Chicago game? Seems to be questions about Copper, Sykes, Austin, and Cloud. My guess is that they all play.
It¡¯s been a rough stretch for Chicago. Lost a unit on them with the hook against Indiana. Will probably back them for 2 units today and if they lose then it will be a very large play for me on the Sky in their next match. Quick double date with the Mystics and I refuse to believe Washington goes 2-0 in this mini series. Mystics will have the Sun on deck in the next game so we even get look ahead energy to play with if Chicago drops another one today.
Thanks for the tip DK. Found everything I needed pretty quickly and easily. This should really help moving forward.
Everyone is in on both sides. I don¡¯t love backing teams the first game they get a star back from injury, but with 3 coming back into the fold on the Washington side I am hoping the rust sort of evens out. Sticking to the plan. Bet on the Sky today and should they lose or even fail to cover, next game will be a no brainer.
At full strength, I don¡¯t even think this Washington roster is that much better than Chicago. Granted, Chicago will not be at full strength today but they should have enough to get it done as long as Mabrey didn¡¯t completely blow her load last game. Would be nice to see Courtney put up more than 0 as well.
Chicago Sky +5.5 (-110)2u
I completely blanked on the Curt Miller narrative for this Sun@Sparks game and absolutely would have backed Atlanta last time out if I’d realized what was going on. Super short line for the road favourite considering their records (8-3@5-5). Seeing a lot of support for Connecticut as well (upwards of 75%).
Sparks have lost 2 of their last 3 to Minnesota. Now I don’t think that’s as embarrassing as some might feel but the perception is there and that’s all we really need. What’s more is that in the first game they lost on a 17-0 run in the 4th quarter. They took out their anger on Dallas and then fell short to this Minnesota team again. Probably a combination of confidence on the Lynx side and the Sparks looking forward to hosting their new coach’s old team.
Miller spent 7 or 8 years with the Sun and won two COTY awards there. This is a huge game for him and the Sparks today. Connecticut also seems to have been looking ahead to this game a bit considering the loss at home to Atlanta.
Much like when Chicago faced LVA for the first time, it was much easier for me to find plays leading up to the game than it is to find them in the game. With that said, we do get a few extra details today that have me siding with LA.
- LA’s 2nd game of the season was similarly emotional because of Hamby. Sparks were up 10 at the half on LVA and eventually lost but covered the big spread fairly comfortably. Nice to see the team rally like that for a “personal” game. If they’ll do it for one player, I think they’ll do it for their coach.
- Both teams come in following a loss, but not all losses are created equal. Sun drop to 8-3, but still sit atop the eastern standings. They also lost in OT which is a bit more draining physically/emotionally and lost to a team they have already beaten this season. Minnesota now has 3 wins on the season and two of them are against LA. A season record of 0-2 against a bottom team is a lot more upsetting and motivating than a 1-1 record against a middling team. Not only that, but the LA loss dropped them down to .500 on the season. If you look around the league right now, there are a lot of teams hovering just below that .500 surface and I think LA will be extra motivated to keep their heads above water. (Sky/Wings are 5-6, Dream 4-5, Fever 4-6)
Atlanta is on a bit of a revenge tour right now and it doesn¡¯t surprise me to see them finding more success on the road. I have talked about it in other threads. It is my feeling that young teams with large expectations placed on them often struggle at home early on because of the pressure of their fans and home crowd. With McDonald and Robinson out, so much is falling on the shoulders of rookie Hailey Jones. Gotta say, she is growing up fast. It has now been 4 games without those two PGs. Jones has started the last 3. Coming off the bench in the first game went better than starting the second. Both were at home. A 7/6/5 effort off the bench followed by a 2/2/4 start where she went 0/4 from the field in 31 minutes of play. In the last two games, both wins against top competition on the road, she has averaged 11.5/6.5/5 shooting 8/20 from the field. Huge improvement, especially when you consider the competition. Let¡¯s hope she can keep it going today.
Indiana a similar team in terms of age and expectations and such. 4-6 on the season. 3-3 on the road and just 1-3 at home. Advantage Atlanta, in my books. One of those road wins for Indiana and their first of the season which broke a 20 game streak was in Atlanta. The Dream responded well after this loss by crushing Chicago and I am hoping they haven¡¯t completely forgotten that sting. A win today will get Atlanta back to .500 at the quarter mark of the season. It will also secure them a winning record on this road trip which has just 1 game left after today.
Oh snap. Looks like Danielle Robinson could play a bit today. Dunno if she¡¯ll play big minutes but the best part about this, for me, is that she spent two years with the Fever prior to joining Atlanta this year. Could/should add a little extra fire to everything mentioned previously. Hopefully the rookie stays focused despite Robinson¡¯s return.
I keep forgetting that Jasmine Thomas is on this LA team because she has barely played so far but just her presence on this roster is another reason for me to back the Sparks. She also played 19 minutes in their last game and could be getting back into some sort of playing shape. She¡¯s 33 and coming off a very serious injury so I am not relying on her play today but it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if she is a factor at some point in this match.
Sun have won 7 straight against the Sparks. You have to go back to August 28th 2020 to find an LA win in this matchup.
Tonight I am betting on that streak coming to an end and I get 4 points to play with. Biggest play of the day wasn¡¯t even on my radar yesterday, but I¡¯ve had plenty of time to go through it.
LA Sparks +4 (-110)3u
Came out almost immediately after. Doubt we see her in the 2nd half.
Alyssa Thomas is such a fuckin problem. With so many stars sharing the box score in NYL and LVA this year, I don¡¯t see how AT doesn¡¯t win MVP. Especially in the wake of Jokic¡¯s championship run. AT just played the whole first half and has 12/1/7 on 6/9 shooting with 3 steals and a block. Jeeeezus
Why the hell would he put JT back in the game. Just like in the first half, she messed up their flow and they lost the lead.
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