Layup Lines: Clark, Fever best Bueckers

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

•  This is somehow our 50th newsletter. I’ll keep it brief to get to a great Sunday of hoops, but just know that I really enjoy writing this and could not without you reading. So thank you.

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This 492 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

📰 Four big wins

• Indiana’s 64 first half points were the most by any team this season, leading to five players scoring double digits. It was both a dominant offensive performance and another indictment of the Wings’ inconsistent effort.

• The Dream made just seven 3-pointers and lost a 19 point lead to earn their fifth loss in seven games. New York needed a career-high 21 from Leonie Fiebich to mount the comeback, as Sabrina Ionescu was 3-20 from the field.
  She’s now shooting just 28% over her last eight games.

• Good get-right win for the Sparks — Connecticut has played their best basketball of the season over the last week and wasn’t a rollover.

• Not to take anything away from the Mystics’ third straight win, but the Storm and their three All-Stars are way too talented to be 13-9. Seattle scored just 10 points in the opening quarter and 14 in the last one.

And yes, I made some terrible picks yesterday and went 1-3. I’ve written about Dallas’ terrible defense and the Liberty’s rough shooting yet took the under in the first and the over in the second. Not a smart day.

Top plays: Clark’s perfect pass to Sophie Cunningham, Bueckers trick shot, big rookie block

📺 Today’s games

• We’re 56-54 this season and have $891 remaining of our initial $1,000 budget to wager.

• There are two games tonight, both on League Pass — Minnesota @ Chicago (8:00pm) and Phoenix @ Golden State (10:00pm).

  • Minnesota has spent the last two days stewing in a hotel and on social media after Saturday’s big upset. A serious title contender would put the clamps on for the rematch and even with a red-hot Angel Reese, I think the Lynx will do just that.

    • Bet: Minnesota / Chicago under 161 total points scored, $50 to win $46.

  • The Valkyries are elite defensively at home and haven’t played in Ballhalla since June 29. This should be a close, physical game.

    • Bet: Phoenix / Golden State under 158.5, $50 to win $45.

☄️ Graphic to go

Missing one shot while scoring 21 points is quite fun.

Layup Lines is written 100% by human beings with visual assistance from AI tools. We very much appreciate you reading. If you’re still here, you must like this newsletter enough to share it with a friend. We’ll see you back here tomorrow.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor