WNBA Picks & Predictions: Monday (6/8)
There are three WNBA games tonight, and I'm recommending one play from each contest. Below, I highlight why I expect the Liberty to dominate, the Storm to struggle and the Fever and Mystics to play their second very high-scoring game of the season. Here are the best WNBA picks for Monday, June 8th.
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Monday's Best WNBA Picks & Bets
(Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook)
New York Liberty at Connecticut Sun
The Liberty opened as 12.5-point favorites, but the line has dropped to 11.5. I don't understand why. Some bettors may point to Sabrina Ionescu being out, but she's played just once all season, and she wasn't a part of the Liberty's 31-point win over the Sun earlier this year.
Just how uneven was the first matchup between these two teams? The Suns were 4-of-22 from three-point range and shot just 39% from the field. Meanwhile, the Liberty shot 52% from the floor.
While this game is being played in Connecticut, it's hard to believe that matters much. The Sun are just 1-3 at home, with all of their losses by at least seven points. They're the worst three-point shooting team in the league.
With the Liberty holding opponents to 32.7% from deep, I don't see the Sun improving much on their first performance against New York. In all, this is a lot of points, but three of the Liberty's seven wins have been by at least 15 points, with one of those victories coming on the road.
Pick: Liberty -11.5 (-112)
Indiana Fever at Washington Mystics
While 169.5 is a high total, it’s not high enough for this matchup. The Fever are the third-highest scoring team in the league, averaging 89.2 points per contest, while the Mystics average 83.4 per game. But perhaps even more important is that neither team plays defense very well. Both rank in the bottom five in the league in scoring defense, allowing at least 86.6 points per game.
When these two teams met earlier this season, both teams cracked 100 points. While that game went to overtime, the teams were knotted at 89 after regulation. That puts that regulation score 18.5 points higher than the listed total for this game.
At least one team has scored 90+ points in seven of the Mystics' nine games this season. The Fever have played some lower-scoring games, and each of their last two contests has featured fewer than 160 combined points. The Fever's offense has struggled in those two games, but few teams are better to get right against than the Mystics.
Pick: Over 169.5 Points (-110)
Seattle Storm at Las Vegas Aces
The Storm are in the middle of a disastrous five-game losing streak. They’ve lost four of the five games by at least 14 points, and they haven't scored more than 72 points in any game during the stretch. The Storm have been held to 68 or fewer in four of those games, and they're averaging just 65.6 during their losing streak.
While the Aces are allowing 84.9 points per game, they've held back-to-back opponents below 80 points, and they allowed just 69 to the Sparks last week. The Storm are averaging a league-worst 75 points per game. The price for this team total under is high, but right now there's no reason to trust this offense, especially against the league’s seventh-ranked scoring defense.
Pick: Storm Team Total Under 72.5 Points (-118)
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.