WNBA - 651 Washington Mystics @ 652 Connecticut Sun
Projected Line: Connecticut by 4 points
Washington got crushed early on the game against Atlanta, as on an up and down game, the Dream have no problems in outplaying the Mystics. Atlanta scored 12 points off Washington's turnovers in the first half, while they also had a 16-0 edge on free throw attempts, therefore it wasn't a surprise that Atlanta was leading the game by 13 points at halftime. Atlanta's defense packed the paint during the whole game, in order to protect the rim and daring the Mystics to beat them from the outside. Washington couldn't and so, they got beaten quite comfortably.
The Mystics will play at Connecticut tonight in Mike Thibault's return to Connecticut after being their coach for so many years. Thibault is trying to implement a similar style in Washington that he used in Connecticut: a fast paced system. The Mystics are obviously still a work in progress and even though they played well enough to beat Tulsa on their season debut, they weren't as lucky against Atlanta, one of the best ball pressure defensive teams in the league. The Sun will be shorthanded for tonight, as they are currently without two of their best guards in Tan White and Renee Montgomery.
"Our bench has been decimated." Sun coach Anne Donovan said. "More than that, it's our scoring punch off the bench. Renee and Tan are the ones that really gave us a lift. We haven't put that pressure on Kelly (Faris). We haven't asked (Natasha) Lacy to be a scorer. That's just not her MO. So it takes all of our scoring punch out of the bench."
Connecticut is an undersized team that relies on their outside game and Tina Charles's presence on the down low. Without their two best offensive guards, I believe that the Sun will struggle to dominate and Washington should then be able to stay competitive in here, with the help of their head coach who knows Connecticut extremely well. Therefore, I'll be taking the Mystics in here.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 651 Washington Mystics (+7,5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
WNBA - 653 New York Liberty @ 654 Atlanta Dream
Projected Line: Atlanta by 14 points
The Liberty is 2-1 on this early season, with the two wins being on overtime. They are coming from beating the shorthanded Fever, who ran out of gas late in the game due to their lack of depth. But I haven't been impressed with the Liberty, as they have a huge problem with turnovers! On the first three games of the season, they committed 18, 24 and 22 turnovers! Their offensive scheme is built to pound down low, but they are currently missing their best Cheryl Ford.
New York will play at Atlanta tonight and the Dream are a horrible matchup for them, as not only they have the best defense in the league in creating turnovers, as they have also a good frontcourt. Atlanta will use these two edges to crush the Liberty tonight. On their first game of the season against Connecticut, who also like to play at a fast pace like Atlanta, the Liberty allowed 20 fast break points due to their sloppy ball handling and poor transition defense, so Atlanta will be more than happy to face them as they averaged 17.7 fast break points per game and created 19.3 turnovers/game on their first three games of the season. I expect an easy win for Atlanta and so, I'll be taking them in here.
Pick: 3 unuits (Single Dime Play) on 654 Atlanta Dream (-10) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bovada
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