Layup Lines: Saturday Suplex

Happy Saturday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. We went 1-1 yesterday thanks to Los Angeles’ Kelsey Plum dropping a cool 37 points on the Golden State Valkyries.

• Buckle up for an awesome slate on the second day of the season. We’ve got the 2023 Finals rematch, Clark vs. Reese and a Skylar Diggins revenge game. Friends, this is what dreams are made of.

This 523 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

Bets of the day

We are 1-1 this season and have $995 left of our initial $1,000 wagering budget. Remember, spreads are just another way to analyze basketball. Gamble if you’re compelled and don’t if you aren’t — no judgement either way.

• There are three games today — Las Vegas Aces @ New York Liberty (1pm ET), Chicago Sky @ Indiana Fever (3pm ET) and Seattle Storm @ Phoenix Mercury (10pm ET). We’re going to hit all three of these bangers.

  • It’s intimidating to bet against the defending champs, but Breanna Stewart is still coming back from a meniscus injury and the Liberty are really going to miss the perimeter defense Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. Give me the Aces and A'ja Wilson with the points.

    • Bet: Aces +4, $50 to win $45

  • The Sky are going to attempt to guard the Fever’s backcourt of Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell — 34% and 40% from 3 last year, respectively — with some combination of 36-year-old Courtney Vandersloot, Ariel Atkins and rookie Hailey Van Lith, who already has an ankle injury.

    • Bet: Fever total points OVER 88.5, $50 to win $45.

  • The Mercury look completely different after replacing franchise legends Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi, plus leading scorer Kahleah Copper is out with an injury. Expect Skylar Diggins to go off against her old team and for Phoenix to struggle to score.

    • Bet: Storm -4, $50 to win $45.

Take of the day

• Betting on the Fever this season is going to be tricky. Caitlin Clark is the league’s most famous player and gets a ton of blind betting loyalty from casuals wasting their life away by not reading Layup Lines, which means Indiana’s odds are often inflated. She entered this season as the favorite to win MVP and the Fever, who went 20-20 last season, had the league’s third-best championship odds.

• The tricky part is that Indiana is actually good this year. Clark and Aliyah Boston are a year older, Kelsey Mitchell is still in her prime and the Fever’s additions of DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Sophie Cunningham will help defensively and with spacing on offense.

• So while the Fever are going to be very fun to watch, they might end up being hard to make money on.

Card of the day

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

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor