🏀 Layup Lines: Phoenix escapes Ballhalla

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

• The league just announced an incredible field for All-Star weekend’s 3-point contest: Sonia Citron, Caitlin Clark, Allisha Gray, Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum.

This 498 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

🌵 Bonner’s back

• I will join the chorus in saying that ending a close game on an Alyssa Thomas free throw sucks, but shorthanded Phoenix pulling out a road win against Golden State is still very impressive.

  • The Mercury are now 15-6 despite their big three of Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper barely playing together this season — though now having a motivated DeWanna Bonner (22 points, 7/8 FGs, 11 rebounds) helps.

• In the earlier game, Minnesota weathered another huge Angel Reese performance to cover a big spread and get revenge for losing the first game of this back to back.

  • Reese now has more double-doubles over her last nine games than any other player has all season.

👀 Tonight’s games

• We went 1-1 with our bets yesterday, so we’re still in the same place on the season at 57-55 with $886 remaining of our initial $1,000 budget to wager.

• There are two games tonight — Indiana @ Connecticut (8:00pm ET, ESPN) and Washington @ Los Angeles (10:00pm, League Pass).

  • Connecticut has been playing a lot better recently and I like a lot of free throws after things got real chippy the last time these two met.

    • Bet: Indiana / Connecticut over 166.5, $50 to win $46.

  • The Mystics are looking for their fourth straight win and I don’t think the Sparks have the size to slow them down. We’re betting on the bigs so let’s bet big.

    • Bet: Washington moneyline, $100 to win $92.

🩺 Take of the day

• Rhyne Howard plays with a big brace on her left knee. Last week against the Fever, she appeared to injury that knee and had to be carried off the floor.

  • I’ve never been confused for a doctor but thought it was crazy that she returned in the second half of that game only to injury the same knee again.

  • Howard being out for the rest of July (and the All-Star game) is a huge deal for the Dream and coach Karl Smesko has to make smarter long-term decisions.

🔥 New name to go

• Next year’s expansion team in Portland is going to be called the Fire, per a press release sent out by the league today. The Fire say they’ve surpassed 10,000 season ticket deposits, which is on pace to break previous records.

  • I don’t have strong feelings about Fire but this logo brings it.

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