Saturday’s game between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever is a significant milestone. The 8:00 p.m. ET broadcast on CBS marks the first-ever primetime broadcast for a WNBA game. The network hoped to capture one of the league’s most explosive individual rivalries between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Unfortunately for the Fever and the viewers at home, Clark is not ready to suit up yet. The superstar guard will miss her fourth straight contest with a quad injury, but she expects to be day-to-day after the weekend. This Indiana squad with serious playoff aspirations has been 1-2 in her absence and will look to even things up before her possible return on Tuesday against the Atlanta Dream.
The Chicago Sky must feel like this game is coming at the perfect time. After a horrendous start to the season, Chicago rattled off back-to-back wins over the Dallas Wings to inject some life into the team. Now they’ve had a week off to study the film and learn how to build on this.
The Fever are 4.5-point favorites on the road and are -198 on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The total is set at 167.5 points. Let’s look at the best bets and predictions for this contest.
Sky vs. Fever prediction
This game won’t be as entertaining without Caitlin Clark, but it will certainly be more competitive. When these two teams faced off on opening night, Clark and the Fever demolished the Sky 93-58 as CC recorded a triple-double. A Fever team without Clark is much closer to Chicago’s current level of competition.
I was surprised to see this line so high in Indiana’s favor. While the Dallas Wings aren’t the stiffest competition, back-to-back wins for the Sky are notable given the start they had. Chicago has momentum for the moment, while Indiana is stumbling through injuries. Not only is Clark out, but Sophie Cunningham is also struggling with injury, and Kelsey Mitchell is playing through a middle finger injury that has clearly hampered her play.
This contest is much closer to even than our oddsmakers would indicate. I’d expect this one to go down to the wire.
Sky vs. Fever pick
Chicago Sky +164
I’m not convinced that the Fever are better than the Sky without Clark. Chicago also gets home-court advantage in this one. Now that they’re believing in themselves after getting a couple of wins, I believe momentum is clearly on their side.
Indiana does have the personnel to battle things out in the frontcourt. Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard can make life complicated in the paint with their defensive skills. Kelsey Mitchell seemed to regain her groove in the last game against the Mystics with 24 points. They have the talent to get past Chicago in this one, but I’m backing the Sky as home underdogs.
