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- ⚡️ Layup Lines: Surging Sparks
Happy Sunday morning and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA.
🥶 The L.A. / New York offensive onslaught yesterday was fun, but I went right back into the freezer by picking the under of a game that combined for 200 points and a road favorite that lost by double digits.
This 469 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.
Sparks stun Liberty in Brooklyn
Rickea Jackson’s game-winner against the Liberty was the perfect cherry on top of a 24-point performance that was easily the best of Jackson’s sophomore season.
Los Angeles has now won five in a row and is averaging 97 points per game on offense during that stretch.
After just getting Jonquel Jones back, the Liberty lost Breanna Stewart to a leg injury in the first quarter and have to be praying it’s not serious.
Meanwhile, Washington scored nine points in the 4th quarter on three made field goals and still won by double digits. That is very hard to do. Seattle continues to look like a title contender some nights and then completely disinterested in playing basketball on others.
Top plays: Shakira Austin’s footwork, no-look Liberty and a Sykes spin.
Courtesy @wnba
Today’s games
We’re 63-68 this season and have $412 of our initial $1,000 budget remaining to wager.
There are five (!) games on all day today — Golden State @ Connecticut (1:00pm ET, CBSSN) Indiana @ Chicago (3:00pm, ABC), Las Vegas @ Dallas (4:00pm, ESPN3), Phoenix @ Washington (6:00pm, League Pass) and Atlanta @
Minnesota (7:00pm, NBA TV). This is an odd day of wagers, as four road teams are favored by five or more points.
Kayla Thornton being out for the rest of the season might be the single biggest injury for any team in the league and makes Golden State a lot worse defensively.
Bet: Golden State / Connecticut over 156.5 total points, $50 to win $45
With Caitlin Clark out and Angel Reese questionable with a back injury, this matchup has lost a bit of its luster — the Sky are essentially a JV team without Reese or Ariel Atkins.
Bet: Indiana -9, $50 to win $45.
This is going to be Washington’s second game in less than 24 hours and I am sticking with my take that a rookie wall is coming.
Bet: Phoenix / Washington under 164, $50 to win $46.
Thanks Claude. Full spreadsheet.
Tweet to go
Every expansion franchise should be taking heavy notes from Golden State’s first season — this is another awesome way to get new fans hooked for life.
Shotout to the Valkyries man... season ticket guy randomly called and said "hey we see you haven't missed a game, do you want to bring your family down to the tunnel to high five the players on the way out of halftime?"
Dope experience for the kids.
— Jason Maples (@jjmaples55)
3:36 PM • Jul 26, 2025
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— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor