Layup Lines: Back at it again

Happy Thursday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. Some days are good. Other days, you break your laptop screen and then pick three losers for the audience of your new newsletter.

•  I still can’t believe the Valkyries beat the Mystics last night for their first win in franchise history, and that the Mercury and Sparks went well over their game total despite both missing a key scorer.

• But I should’ve seen the letdown game coming for the Lynx, who beat the Wings without covering.

Programming note: I’m going to start sending around 4pm ET each day there are games to get a better sense of line movement and injury announcements throughout the day.

This 468 word newsletter should take less than 2 minutes to read.

Bets of the day

• We’re 5-8 this season and have $826 of our initial $1,000 remaining to wager.

• There are two games today — Indiana @ Atlanta (7:30pm ET, Prime Video) and the New York @ Chicago (8pm, League Pass).

  • The Fever just lost to the Dream at home but are now 4.5 point favorites tonight in Atlanta. That feels like too many points but also not enough to take. One thing I’m sure of is that Aliyah Boston has cleared this number in both Fever games this season.

    • Bet: Aliyah Boston 30+ PTS + REB + AST, $25 to win $26.

  • The Liberty and Sky have both been off since Saturday. I’d like to respect that much rest and practice for the defending champs.

    • Bet: Liberty -12, $100 to win $92.

Take of the day

• The Wings are not a well-run franchise and probably won’t have the foresight to do this, but Dallas should trade Arike Ogunbowale. The 4x All-Star has received MVP votes every year she’s been in the league, but the 28-year-old is also an unrestricted free agent next year.

• The other problem is that Ogunbowale is too ball dominant to be a good fit next to No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers. She’s consistently near the league lead in shots attempted and plays a lot of 1v1 basketball, while Bueckers is at her best whipping the ball around. Getting younger assets for Ogunbowale would make sense.

Good reads from around the league

• Fever look to avoid second straight loss to Dream (Her Hoop Stats)

• History made! (Mercury News)

• WNBA Franchise Quiz (ESPN)

• Liberty raised capital at record $450 million valuation (The Athletic)

Card of the day

I love a good rookie card.

Thanks for reading Layup Lines. Your friends / loved ones / servers can subscribe here.

If you bet, please do so responsibly, and we will see you back here tomorrow.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor