It appears that the key to having a perfect day picking is to take a week off in between columns. A 4-0 day gets us back over .500 against the spread and gets our over/under scored a little closer to that range.
While the predictions were correct yesterday, I was still surprised by the way Washington dominated Seattle, though many will point to the early tip as a reason why the Storm looked so flat. Regardless, Elena Delle Donne was incredibly efficient in the scoring of her 25 points (7-of-10 FG, 2-of-4 from three, 9-of-9 FT) and the Mystics forced and incredible 23 turnovers.
The other game saw the Sparks end the hot streak of the Connecticut Sun while continuing their own hot streak, extending their consecutive win total to six. The entire Sparks starting lineup hit double digit scoring led by, of course, Nneka Ogwumike who had 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go along with nine rebounds.
Just one game today with a 12:30PM EST tip.
Indiana Fever (-1.5, -110)
Chicago Sky (+1.5, -110)
Total: 165.5
Two teams that are closer to fighting for lottery position than for the playoffs, the Fever and Sky take each other on today in the Windy City. It seems odd but the playoff picture seems to have already formed itself with eight teams sticking out above the others, but the one team currently not in that picture that could stick their heads in would be Indiana. Technically, if the season ended today, the Fever would be the last team in as they currently own the tiebreaker with Connecticut, but most would agree that the Sun will be in, as the are still trying to overcome their poor 0-4 start.
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Just 1-5 on the road, Indiana is still trying to find a way to have their good play travel. Scoring just 72.8 PPG on the road (in contrast, they are scoring 85.1 at home), the youth and inexperience of the Fever roster is certainly shining through. They don’t have any clear-cut All-Stars, although Candice Dupree and her 14.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1 SPG have a decent case. They are a mess defensively and are the worst rebounding team in the league. They have gone 5-2 at home so clearly there are some things in the works that can lead to success, but finding it on a consistent basis will be key as this team tries to stay in the playoff hunt as the season progresses.
With Indiana’s road woes well documented, Chicago should be able to hold serve at home, right? It actually isn’t that simple. Implausibly, the Sky are still winless at home, standing at 0-6 on the season. Last time they Sky hosted Indiana, it resulted in an 12-point win for the Fever, a game where the entire starting lineup scored double digits for Chicago but the bench managed to chip in just eight.
Allie Quigley is having a career year with 16.6 PPG on nearly 53% FG while also snagging 3.5 rebounds and handing out almost 3 assists per game, and Stefanie Dolson has shown flashes of some real excellence. However, this is a team that doesn’t seem to have any clear style or direction. The lineups are still being tinkered with and from the outside there doesn’t seem to be any cohesiveness. If everyone clicks at the same time, the Sky can do some damage, but those games have been few and far between.
A bad road team against a bad home team; something has to give. This is one of those games I pick with no confidence due to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde play from both of these squads, but since I have to decide, I’ll take Indiana with the under.