There are four WNBA games tonight, and we're predicting who will score first in three of those contests. When the Minnesota Lynx face the Washington Mystics, Napheesa Collier is a clear favorite to score first. But is there someone else we should have our eye on? Who will score first when the Los Angeles Sparks meet the Chicago Sky for the second time this season? And what should we expect in the evenly matched Indiana Fever vs. Seattle Storm game?
Here are the best WNBA first basket bets for Tuesday, June 24.
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Tuesday's Best WNBA First Basket Scorers & Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Minnesota Lynx at Washington Mystics
The Lynx are heavily favored over the Mystics, so I'm looking specifically at Minnesota when trying to determine who will score first in this game. Leading scorer Napheesa Collier is favored to score first with a price of +370. While she's averaging 24.4 points per game, there's no value in taking her to score first in this game because of that price.
Therefore, I'm looking at Kayla McBride, the Lynx's second-leading scorer. McBride is averaging 16.1 points per game and just dropped 29 on Saturday. Yet, somehow her price to score first is +900. Before Saturday's excellent performance, she had scored eight or fewer points in back-to-back games. However, when you look at her season as a whole, it's clear those two games were outliers, as she has scored at least 13 in every other contest. She currently has the sixth-shortest odds to score first in this game, and that just doesn't make sense to me.
Pick: Kayla McBride (+900)
Los Angeles Sparks at Chicago Sky
When these two teams met earlier this season, it was Azura Stevens who scored first. If you think she has the chance to do it again, then there is a great payday to be had, as she is currently listed at +900. However, while Stevens scored 24 in that first meeting, it was the Sparks' season-long leading scorer, Kelsey Plum, who led the team with 28 points.
This season, Plum is averaging 20.5 points per game, though her scoring has slowed a bit in June. She has scored fewer than 20 points in four of her six games, and she hasn't scored more than 24 since May 27. However, this is a great matchup for her, and she is still the team's leading scorer. With such long odds to score first in a game that can go either way, I'll take my chances on her finding her groove against a bad defense.
Pick: Kelsey Plum (+850)
Indiana Fever at Seattle Storm
There are numerous arguments to be made for players from both teams to score first in this game, as these two teams are evenly matched and have numerous players capable of scoring. The Storm have four players who average at least 11.1 points per game, so rather than take the easy route and back Caitlin Clark to score first if the Fever score first, I'll back one of the Storm's top scorers.
Nneka Ogwumike is the favorite to score first. Her price is currently set at +420, which is significantly better than the +600 being offered for the next two scorers with the shortest odds. However, I'm going to bypass Ogwumike and go with the Storm's leading scorer. Skylar Diggins is averaging 18.4 points per game, and though Ogwumike has been the team's leading scorer for three consecutive games, Diggins still scores plenty. This is a bit of a risk since Diggins hasn't scored first in a game in a while, but for the price, the reward is worth the risk.
Pick: Skylar Diggins (+650)
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.