Tuesday's Best WNBA Bets
New York Liberty at Chicago Sky (-5, 150.5)
It seems the Chicago Sky just needed some time to figure out their 2010 season. The Sky, who opened the season 0-4, have won four games in a row heading into Tuesday’s home contest with the Liberty.
Chicago center Sylvia Fowles went off for a career-high 32 points in a 95-70 win over the Tulsa Shock as 7-point favorites Saturday. That win also marked the fourth straight time the Sky have covered the spread, improving to 5-3 ATS on the season – the third-most profitable mark in the WNBA.
“The coaches have really looked to me to lead on the floor, so I’ve made some adjustments to rebound some more,” Fowles told reporters. “Once I did that, everything else just got put into perspective.”
The Sky have been on fire from the field during this winning streak. They’ve shot almost 48 percent from the field (119-for-250) and nearly 43 percent (30-for-70) from beyond the arc in the past four games.
"We've got (a) number of players who can score from outside, leaving Sylvia more opportunities to do her work on the inside. It's working, and she's showing us every bit of the ability we knew she had,” head coach Steve Key told the media following Saturday’s win.
Chicago fell to New York last month, losing an 85-82 shootout. The Sky shot better than 46 percent from the floor but allowed the Liberty to hit more than half their field goal attempts. With the team at home and playing tougher on the other side of the ball, look for the good times to keep rolling in Chi-town.
Pick: Chicago
Phoenix Mercury at Los Angeles Sparks (-2, 176.5)
After an epic fail with their "Get Outside and Play L.A." promotion this past weekend, the Los Angeles Sparks are hoping to everything goes as plan against the Phoenix Mercury Tuesday night.
Los Angeles is coming off its third straight loss and sixth of the season against the Seattle Storm Saturday night. The Sparks hosted the WNBA’s first outdoor game the Home Deport Center’s tennis courts, which just happened to be next door to a tire fire, which left a haze of smoke and the smell of burning tires hovering over their 79-75 loss.
But while the night was a flop and most of the players openly expressed their disappointment, L.A. head coach Jennifer Gillom took something very valuable from the experience. She pointed to the Sparks’ terrible first quarter in which they were down 25-12.
"It did see some mental toughness out of this team," Gillom told reporters. "We could have buried ourselves in the first quarter when they took that huge lead on us, but this team, coming off a back-to-back, I thought fought really hard."
Los Angeles will be back inside the Staples Center when it faces the Mercury Tuesday. The Sparks played tough in their last meeting with the defending WNBA champs, losing 90-89 but covering as 5-point road underdogs.
Phoenix hasn’t played up to oddsmakers’ expectations, failing to cover in four straight contests and dropping to 1-6 against the spread this season.
Pick: Los Angeles
NEW YORK vs. CHICAGO
New York is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
New York is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
Chicago is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing New York
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 5 games when playing New York
PHOENIX vs. LOS ANGELES
Phoenix is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Los Angeles
Phoenix is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games at home