There’s going to be drama aplenty down the stretch of this WNBA season. As the playoff race comes down to the wire, each game carries extra weight. Only 1.5 games separate seeds 6–9; the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever are two of those teams. One win stands between the two going into Tuesday’s game.
The Storm are 3.5-point favorites on the road and hold -162 odds on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The total is set at 166.5 points. Let’s look at the best bets and predictions for this Fever–Storm contest.
Fever vs. Storm prediction, pick
The story of the Fever’s season has revolved around Caitlin Clark, unsurprisingly. But it’s her absence that has been the story of the year. Clark has missed over half the year, and you’d assume that would sink their season. Kelsey Mitchell has stepped up to fill the void and keep Indiana’s season alive. For the last five weeks, since Clark went down, Mitchell has been putting up 22.8 PPG and tying the offense together.
Her scoring, alongside Aliyah Boston’s all-around excellence, has kept them in the playoff picture. But things are still precarious. They’re in the eighth seed, tied with the Valkyries (who own the tiebreaker) and tied in the loss column with the red-hot Sparks. A loss against the Storm would be devastating to their postseason hopes.
Seattle is no stranger to being on the ropes this year. After tumbling below .500, they’ve won four of their last five, including a gritty win against the Mystics this weekend. Not only have they turned things around, but they’ve seemingly unlocked a new element with this team. Playing rookie Dominique Malonga has paid off immensely in their past few games.
Seattle had a good formula, centered around Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins setting the table offensively, while Ezi Magbegor patrols the paint and Gabby Williams fills gaps on both ends. Malonga turning into an elite first player off the bench could change their fortunes and make them a tough out in the postseason. But they’ll have to get there first.
The Storm offense is heating up, in no small part thanks to Malonga’s emergence. They’ve scored 80+ points in their last five games. Indiana’s offense has done the same; the only problem is that they’ve allowed 80+ in all five games as well. This is going to be a higher-scoring affair than most would expect.
