We have five-game slate to consider for our WNBA bets. This is the full schedule for Wednesday, which is the final day of action before the All-Star break.
- Atlanta Dream vs. Chicago Sky, 12 pm ET
- Phoenix Mercury vs. Minnesota Lynx, 1 pm ET
- Golden State Valkyries vs. Seattle Storm, 3 pm ET
- Indiana Fever vs. New York Liberty, 7 pm ET
- Las Vegas Aces vs. Dallas Wings, 8 pm ET
It’s a packed day hoops, starting at noon ET. That said, it’s a bummer that Caitlin Clark suffered an injury last night, so she’ll be out for the Fever. Below, we look at the best WNBA bets to make on July 16th.
| WNBA Bets | Sportsbook Odds |
| Sky Team Total u75.5 | -115 on Caesars |
| Mercury +10.5 | -110 on FanDuel |
| Fever +10 | -110 on DraftKings |
Chicago Sky Team Total u75.5 (-115) Caesars
The Sky are a feisty team that plays hard, but without two of their best players in Angel Reese and Ariel Atkins, it is hard to trust them to score very much. Especially when you consider the fact that Courtney Vandersloot, who tore her ACL a couple weeks ago, will not be returning anytime soon.
For context, on the year the Sky already have the third-worst offensive net rating in the entire WNBA. This will be the first game that both Reese and Atkins have missed this year, so it is hard to know exactly how things are going to look, but we do know that Reese leads the team in all three categories of points, rebounds and assists, so it is going to be tough to replace that much offense.
As far as the Dream go, this is more of a play fading the Sky offense than it is backing the Dream defense or anything like that. They are middle of the pack in terms of defensive net rating but admittedly have struggled recently. They have allowed six straight teams go over this number, but an injury riddled Sky team playing their last game before the All-Star break seems like the perfect fade spot.
Phoenix Mercury +10.5 (-110) FanDuel
The Mercury are also a team that is dealing with some injuries, with Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper out for tonight, but they have been out for the last couple games and that has not stopped the Mercury, who have won three straight games. One of those wins was against the Lynx as well in an eight-point victory for the Mercury over the Lynx back on July 9th.
While the Lynx are clearly the better team, this line is just too inflated to expect the Lynx to win by double-digits. This is one of the worst spots a team can be in, as the Lynx are returning home after a four-game road trip, and this will also be five games in eight nights for the Lynx. Generally, teams that come home after a long road trip struggle in their first game back, and that is before considering that the Lynx have played a ton of games recently.
As mentioned earlier, the Lynx will be playing their fifth game in eight nights, and their ninth game in July. They had back-to-backs on 7/5-7/6 and 7/9-7/10, and in general have had a loaded schedule. So, with these teams heading into the ASB after this, look for this to be a flat spot for the Lynx.
Indiana Fever +10 (-110) DraftKings
For our third and final pick of the day, we are taking another underdog to cover a large spread, this time in the Fever managing to keep the game to single digits against the Liberty. As mentioned earlier, the biggest thing to note here is that Clark strained her groin last night so she will most likely be out for this game.
Common logic would suggest that the other side should be the play, but the spread immediately jumped up 4-5 points with the Clark, which is simply too high at this point.
As good as Clark is, she has really struggled on the road, so it's possible her absence will not be as big of a deal as initially thought. For context, she averages 19.1 points per game at home, down to 12.2 PPG on the road. Not only that, but the Fever defense is better with Clark off the floor. Their defensive rating is two points better with her off the court and would be the second-best defensive net rating in the entire WNBA if extrapolated out.
The Liberty are a good team with the second-best net rating in the WNBA, but that has gone down to the eighth-ranked net rating since Jonquel Jones went down back in June. Since then, the Liberty have a negative net rating. They are another team who could have a flat spot tonight without Clark on the other side, and the Liberty team desperately in need of a break to get Jones back.