🥊 Layup Lines: Minnesota is still mad

Happy Monday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. Wherever you happen to be, we hope you enjoyed the weekend.

This 463 word newsletter should take less than 2 minutes to read.

😸 Another statement Lynx win

• It’s one thing to take jabs at Emma Meesseman or sign Jaylyn Sherrod after she was released from the Liberty, but Minnesota’s trouncing of New York on Sunday is another sign this rivalry is personal.

  • The Lynx, still furious about what happened in last year’s WNBA Finals, played swarming perimeter defense and got 60 points from their backcourt in a 83-71 win.

    • Even without Napheesa Collier, Minnesota just has a much deeper roster than the Liberty (missing Breanna Stewart, Kennedy Burke and Nyara Sabally).

    • These teams now get five days of rest, then play this again in Minnesota on Saturday and then for the fourth and final time in the regular season on Tuesday in Brooklyn.

  • In the other games:

    • Washington took a double-digit deficit into halftime before roaring back to beat Dallas, the Dream won their fifth in a row by holding the Mercury to just 66 points, Dearica Hambey hit a game-winner for the Sparks against the Storm and A’ja Wilson got the Aces past the Sun by putting up the first 30-20 double-double in WNBA history.

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🌁 Today’s games

• The Mercury loss ended our Break Glass It’s An Emergency Moneyline Parlay, but we still went 2-1 yesterday and remain alive thanks to the Lynx.

• We’re now 74-82 this season and have $191 remaining of our initial $1,000 budget to wager.

• There’s one measly game on late tonight — Connecticut @ Golden State (10:00pm ET, League Pass).

  • The Sun are on the second night of a back-to-back and the Valkyries are talking in their locker room about a playoff mentality. For this team, that means clamps.

    • Bet: Connecticut / Golden State under 157, $50 to win $45.

⛈ Take of the day

• If the Storm continue to lose games in the second half like this, throw out everything I’ve written about the playoff picture being set.

  • They’ve lost five in a row by a combined total of 17 points, meaning they’ve been just a couple plays away from still being top 5 team. Instead, Seattle is now 16-16 and could be fighting with L.A. and Golden State for the 8th and final playoff spot.

Graphic to go

• We are all very lucky to be alive at the same time A’ja Wilson is playing basketball.

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