Los Angles Sparks (-8, -105)
Indiana Fever
Total: 150.5, -110
The Sparks opening day win against the Minnesota Lynx can certainly be labeled a “statement win”. Playing in front of a sellout crow in Minneapolis, the Sparks had to watch the Lynx receive their WNBA championship rings for last season before tipoff. It was a great celebration of a great Lynx team.
Once the ball went up, however, the mood changed. If I’m being fair, that previous statement isn’t entirely true, but once the third quarter happened it sure was. Up six at half, Minnesota saw itself trailing by eight entering the fourth thanks to a 25-11 advantage by L.A. in that third stanza. Lindsay Whalen went vintage mode scoring 17 points, including the go-ahead free throws with just seconds remaining, but then Chelsea Gray hit the crazy game-winner for the Sparks.
When it was announced before the game that Candace Parker was going to be out with a minor back injury, the question of who would step up in her absence lingered. It ended up being a group effort. Odyssey Sims scored 18, Gray had 17 and six steals, and Nneka Ogwumike had 19. The Sparks were able to win despite going just 3-of-18 from three and getting out-rebounded 41-25, thanks to the Lynx 24(!!) turnovers.
Meanwhile, the Indiana Fever hung tough with the Washington Mystics before falling 82-75 (but they did cover the spread). #2 overall draft pick Kelsey Mitchell was good off the bench, scoring 16 points in 25 minutes, while Natalie Achonwa led all scorers with 21. Indiana struggled all of last year to find consistent scoring from more that one or two players, and I worry they will have that problem again this year. For the game, their turnover percentage was 20.3 (context: that would have been the second highest rate in the league last year) and their offensive rating was 94.9 (the lowest last year was 95.3).
Indiana may find a way to cover, and maybe I’m unwise for going against them again, but I’ll give the points and take L.A. plus the over.