Fans looking to bet on the WNBA tonight have two games to choose from: Minnesota Lynx versus Dallas Wings and New York Liberty versus Portland Fire. Dallas and Minnesota are both off to 1-1 starts this season, and the Fire recorded its first win against the Liberty on Tuesday. What does this tell us? We are in for a couple of solid games tonight. Based on what we know of each team, the following are our best WNBA picks for Thursday.
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Thursday’s Best WNBA Picks & Predictions
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings
Dallas is an easy team to get excited about. The Wings have the last two No. 1 picks in the draft and an explosive offense capable of putting up 100+ points (as they did against Indiana in the opener).
Two games in, their defense still looks questionable. Minnesota surprised fans by being so good last season, but this group lost some key personnel from last year's squad, and Napheesa Collier is still out with an injury.
But they have shown in their first two games that they can still score some points (88 and 90). However, can they play good enough defense to keep the Dallas offense in check? That's a very good question. They didn't play great defense against Atlanta in their opener or versus Phoenix in their second game.
The Lynx are still a solid team. Atlanta and Phoenix have two of the WNBA’s better defenses, and they scored 90 and 88 points against them, respectively. Dallas has a questionable defense on its best days and will not slow the Minnesota offense down much (if at all).
The Lynx defense wasn’t great against the Dream or the Mercury, but they don't need it to be great. They need it to be good enough to slow the Dallas offense down a little, which it is. It should be a great game to watch, one that either team can win. But since Minnesota has plus-money odds, the Lynx are a solid value play.
Pick: Lynx Moneyline (+126)
New York Liberty vs. Portland Fire
Portland deserves all the credit in the world for earning its first win as a franchise on Tuesday night against the betting favorite to win it all this season. Bridget Carleton and Carla Leite made some great shots, and the offense was unstoppable. But don't count on them to do it again.
Yes, New York's already been hit hard by injuries - Satou Sabally, Rebecca Allen and Sabrina Ionescu. But the Liberty still made 53% of its shots, and went 13-of-28 from three-point range compared to 50% and 15-of-23 for the Fire. They also won the rebound battle. Offensively, they looked good, but the defense was garbage.
In the first two games of the season, New York posted a 96.6 defensive rating, the second-best mark in the league, behind only Toronto (82.9). But in the loss to the Fire on Tuesday, it sported a 124.1 defensive rating.
New York will not play defense as poorly as they did in that game ever again. Considering the injuries, expecting them to cover an 11.5-point spread after losing by two may seem like a bit much.
But despite not playing its best game, the Liberty were still in a position to win late on Tuesday. Tonight, they will play much better defense and keep the Fire offense in check en route to a big win.
Pick: Liberty -11.5 (-114)
