😲 Layup Lines: Ballhalla strikes again

Happy Sunday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA.

• It’s hotter than two rats in a wool sock outside but we’ve got basketball on TV all day long. Count your blessings!

This 481 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

🌴 Golden State stuns L.A.

• The Sparks went into yesterday’s game having won eight of their last nine while scoring 100+ in five of their last six. The Valkyries, meanwhile, had been on a slide with no clear solutions for replacing All-Star Kayla Thornton.

  • So naturally, Golden State held L.A. to under 60 points for the first time all season en route to an impressive 72-59 win.

  • The Valks defense was fantastic and the Sparks shot just 33% from the floor, but listen to the crowd pop on these 3-pointers — the Chase Center remains an actual home-court advantage.

• In Saturday’s other game, Indiana overcame suiting up just nine players to roll over the helpless Sky, 92-70.

  • Kelsey Mitchell led all scorers with 26 points and is now the W’s overall leading scorer on the season.

Thanks to Long Angle for sponsoring this newsletter

Institutional-Grade Opportunities for HNW Investors

Long Angle connects HNW entrepreneurs and executives with institutional-grade alternative investments. No membership fees. Access includes:

• Private equity, credit, search funds, hedge funds, secondaries

• $100M+ invested annually, leverage collective expertise and scale

• Invest alongside pensions, endowments, and family offices

Apply to Join

📺 Today’s games

• After once again underestimating Golden State, we went 1-1 yesterday in picks and are now 72-81 this season with $132 of our initial $1,000 budget remaining to wager.

• Of today’s five games, we’re going to hit three of them and empty the budget. We either rise from the ashes or I have to explain to my family how I somehow lost a grand creating a free newsletter. No bad options.

  • Always hard to bet against the Liberty at home, but Minnesota has clearly circled all of these New York games and is going to bring it even without Napheesa Collier.

    • Bet: Lynx +4, $50 to win $45.

  • The Mystics and Wings have both lost four in a row and this one should be up in pace.

    • Bet: Washington / Dallas over 163.5 total points scored, $50 to win $45.

  • With the remaining money in the budget, we’re going for broke on moneylines with Minnesota (+150), Phoenix (-192) and Las Vegas (-700).

    • Bet: Moneyline parlay (+334), $32 to win $107.

🤝 Graphic to go

• The trade deadline has come and gone, but this article about the history of trading in the WNBA by Charting Hoops was still a really interesting read.

  • Fun fact: Excluding the Valks, who have not completed a trade as a franchise yet, the Fever and Sparks are the only teams to never trade with each other.

Layup Lines is written 100% by a human being with visual assistance from AI tools. I very much appreciate you reading and will see you back here tomorrow.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor