Thursday's Best WNBA Bets
Phoenix Mercury at Seattle Storm (-7, 178)
The top two teams in the WNBA’s Western Conference meet in the second round of the playoffs when the Seattle Storm host the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of the conference finals Thursday.
Seattle took over the top spot in the West from Phoenix this season, posting an impressive 28-6 record (17-15-2) and knocking off the defending league champs in all five of their head-to-head meetings, covering the spread in four of those showdowns. The Storm defeated the Los Angeles Sparks in two straight games in the opening round of the playoffs, going 2-0 ATS.
"I'm glad that (first) series is gone because it means we advanced, we had a few extra days to prepare for Phoenix and we're ready for this round," guard Tanisha Wright told the Seattle Times. "We know Phoenix is a good team. They run the floor and get shots up and they have great individual players, so it's going to take a lot of playing good one-on-one defense so we don't have to force a lot of rotations."
The last time these two Western powers met, Seattle stole a 78-73 win in Phoenix as a 3.5-point underdog despite cutting many of their starters minutes in order to rest for the postseason.
Pick: Seattle -7
PHOENIX (17 - 19) at SEATTLE (30 - 6)
Top Trends for this game.
PHOENIX is 3-11 ATS (-9.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
SEATTLE is 15-7 ATS (+7.3 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
SEATTLE is 10-2 ATS (+7.8 Units) in home games after 3 or more consecutive wins over the last 3 seasons.
SEATTLE is 15-8 ATS (+6.2 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game this season.
PHOENIX is 46-34 ATS (+8.6 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 26-13 ATS (+11.7 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 25-13 ATS (+10.7 Units) in a road game where where the total is greater than or equal to 150 over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 10-2 ATS (+7.8 Units) in road games vs. division opponents this season.
PHOENIX is 7-1 ATS (+5.9 Units) in road games after a division game this season.
PHOENIX is 11-3 ATS (+7.7 Units) revenging a home loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 20-9 ATS (+10.1 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 23-13 ATS (+8.7 Units) in road games after scoring 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 11-2 ATS (+8.8 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record after 15+ games over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
SEATTLE is 8-5 against the spread versus PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
SEATTLE is 9-4 straight up against PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
7 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
PHOENIX vs. SEATTLE
Phoenix is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games on the road
Phoenix is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games