Washington Mystics (PK, -110)
Phoenix Mercury (PK, -110)
Total: 162
This is the first true pick ’em game I can remember in quite sometime and even since starting the article I’ve seen some movement that has Washington favored by 1 or 2. You can certainly see why with the Mystics strong play as of late, though they need a win badly to put that 17-point lead they lost at Los Angles behind them. That loss snapped the Mystic win streak at three and for the second straight game saw them score under 70 points, the only two times that has occurred this season. Over the last four games, Washington is third in the league in points per game, but has seen their three point shooting percentage go down, as well as their rebounding, effective shooting and true shooting percentages. Tayler Hill and Kristi Toliver have shown some more life on offensive to help out Elena Delle Donne, and the play of Ivory Latta and Tianna Hawkins off the bench has been noteworthy, but the Mystics need a win over a good team and tonight is a good chance to do it.
Not that the Mystics winning is going to be easy at all, not with a Mercury team that boosts MVP candidate Brittney Griner (league leading 21.8 PPG), and the always dangerous Diana Taurasi (18.6 PPG). Though they lost last time out to Minnesota, the Mercury found themselves within striking distance late despite Griner scoring just six points. Phoenix has alternated wins and losses for the last eight games (look out Washington!) and, thanks to a soft part in the schedule, have only played twice in the last 15 days. For the season, Phoenix is in the bottom third in rebounding percentage but are middle of the pack on better everywhere else that matters. Tonight marks the first of three games between these two teams.
This is another game that I would avoid picking if I could, but that would kind of eliminate the point of the article. I’m going to take a bit of a flyer here on Washington as I expect them to be ready to play again after their last game ended so poorly. Also, both these teams have had their offensive woes at time, but I’ll still take the over.