Layup Lines: Fever Dream

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. There was one game last night and we nailed it by taking the under of the Storm and Wings matchup.

• This is a strange Dallas team full of talented players who lose their minds every time a foul call doesn’t go their way. We’ll see if new coach Chris Koclanes, a career assistant and first-time head coach, can help get things back on track for the 0-2 Wings.

This 443 word newsletter should take less than 2 minutes to read.

Bets of the day

• We are 4-4 this season and have $981 of our initial $1,000 budget remaining to wager.

• There are two games today, both at 7pm ET — Las Vegas Aces @ Connecticut Sun (League Pass) and Atlanta Dream @ Indiana Fever (NBA TV).

  • The Aces are favored by a healthy 12.5 points and are still getting more than 90% of the bets placed on this game, according to DraftKings. That’s too many points. Las Vegas lost to the Liberty by 14 in their first game of the season because they got killed inside the paint, while the Sun scored 52% of their points in the paint in their first game.

    • Bet: Sun + 12.5, $50 to win $43.

  • The Fever’s defense looked incredible over the weekend, but they’re playing a Dream team that put up 90 points in their opening game despite missing 24 3-pointers.

    • Bet: Over 172.5, $50 to win $45.

Take of the day

• At the risk of sounding like a corporate shill, the best deal in television right now is paying $34.99 for WNBA League Pass. The streaming service carries every non-nationally televised game for the entire season and now works great on mobile, so it’s very easy to hop in and out of late-game drama.

Good reads from around the league

1. WNBA card market has evolved into more than just Caitlin Clark (cllct)

2. 8 things we learned from the WNBA's opening weekend (ESPN)

3. WNBA power rankings (The Athletic)

Card of the day

I loved watching Rhyne Howard during her Rookie of the Year run in 2022, but her game has more or less plateaued since then. She’s now 25 years old and in year 4, so if she’s going to hit the next level, it will probably come this season.

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

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor