Los Angles Sparks (-6.5, -110)
Atlanta Dream (+6.5, -110)
Total: 162
The first game of the day features two teams who are 2-1, with the Sparks two wins coming at home, and the Dream’s two wins coming on the road. Somethings got to give. LA’s offense is cruising so far this season, as the team is averaging 89 points per game, tops in the league. Its not just that they are scoring either, its how they are doing it. The team’s offensive rating, effective field goal percentage and assist to turnover ratio are all tops in the league, and interestingly, they are getting 29.2 percent of their points from the deep ball, also a league best. A lot of those three pointers can be contributed to the great shooting so far from Chelsea Gray (62.5%), Sydney Wiese (57.1%) and last season’s MVP Nneka Ogwumike (50%).
Perhaps a date with the Dream will bring those numbers down. Atlanta is holding opponents to just 38.9% shooting from the field and having averaged 8.7 steals per game, both good for second best in the league. In a battle with the Sparks, however, the Atlanta offense is more of a concern. The Dream aren’t really “bad” in any particular offensive area, but they don’t really having a calling card on that end of the floor either. Tiffany Hayes and Layshia Clarendon, averaging 19.7 and 16.3 points per game respectively, lead the charge, but the question is if they can do it effectively or not.
The Dream look much better than many thought they would without Angel McCoughtry, who is taking some time off this season, but I wonder if they can score enough to keep up with the LA. Give me the Sparks and the over.