We’re 1-1 in our free picks here at the OddsBreakers with the Lynx comfortably covering against the Fever last week.
Storm +3, 1 unit*
The Seattle Storm and Chicago Sky play a matinee game on Wednesday in Chicago, which means Wintrust Arena is going to be full of screaming summer camp kids. It also means you should get your bets in now!
Seattle and Chicago are the two hottest teams in the league right now with both clubs on a four-game win streak and combining for a 24-5 overall record over the last month and a half. This line opened at Chicago -2.5 but has moved to -3 at most books, in which case I’m going to grab the points with the Storm in what I expect to be a very close game.
These two teams played back in May with Seattle winning 74-71 and covering as one-point favorites. The Storm were up by as much as 15 in that game before the Sky “stormed” back (no pun intended) and made this a close game in the fourth quarter. If you look at the stats from that game, it was about as evenly matched as it gets, and I expect a similar story today.
While the Sky have only lost two home games all season, one major advantage the Storm have this afternoon is the absence of Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago’s All-Star point guard. Vandersloot will miss her second game while in concussion protocol. Her backup, Julie Allemand, stepped in and had a nice game in her start against Dallas on Saturday, posting eight assists and zero turnovers, but the Storm aren’t the Wings. Seattle is a much stronger team, especially on the defensive end, where they’ll look to make life difficult for her.
With Vandersloot out of the game, much of Chicago’s offense will have to run through their frontcourt, which is where they typically get most of their offensive production. However, it’s Vandersloot that gets that offense going. And, unfortunately for the Sky, you could easily argue that Seattle’s trio of Breanna Stewart, Ezi Magbegor and Gabby Williams has become the best defensive frontcourt in the league as of late. That claim also doesn’t just stop on the defensive end because offensively, Stewart is averaging 21.0 points per game and is having an MVP-type season. Seattle also owns the best net rating over their last seven games and ranks third in effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage.
This line tells me that these two teams are basically even on a natural court. Yet with Vandersloot out of the lineup today, this game is going to come down to the wire and I’d much prefer to have a few points in my back pocket.
More free plays to come! In the meantime, you can check me out on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @kateconstable.
*All plays listed are to win that amount.
