There are three games of WNBA action today with the Commissioner’s Cup in full swing.
The Minnesota Lynx hosted the Los Angeles Sparks to kick off the day. Next, Caitlin Clark will return from her five-game absence due to a quad injury. The Fever will take on the undefeated New York Liberty. Clark first suffered the injury in the previous matchup against the Liberty, with the game resulting in a narrow two-point loss for the Fever. Finally, the Seattle Storm and Golden State Valkyries will face off for the night’s final matchup starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.
With some high-profile matchups on the table, here are my favorite WNBA bets on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Breanna Stewart Over 20.5 Points (-120)
There will be plenty of eyes on the Fever vs. Liberty matchup as these teams face off for the second time this season. New York enters with a perfect 9-0 record, with the Fever being the only team to truly push it to the brink so far this year. The Liberty pulled off a narrow 90-88 victory in which Caitlin Clark was unable to get off a last-second shot attempt for the win. Breanna Stewart was limited to 16 points on 4-for-11 shooting in this matchup. This will not cut it today.
So far this season, the two-time MVP is averaging 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. She has tallied over 20.5 points in four of the nine games thus far, with these numbers sure to be much higher if it were not for all the blowouts. New York has won six of its nine games by 14+ points. This includes beating the Connecticut Sun by 48 points, which limited Stewart to 22:49 of game time in that matchup.
The 4-for-11 shooting effort (36.4%) was Stewart’s worst shooting percentage so far this season. While Indiana’s defense deserves some credit for this, the six-time All-Star has a proven track record for who she is as a basketball player. She missed all four of her three-point attempts in the previous matchup with the Fever.
Stewart has played more aggressively as of late with 30 combined field-goal attempts across the past two games and the 16 shots attempted in the previous game marking a season-high. Expect her struggles in the first matchup with the Liberty to be in mind during this high-profile matchup as Stewart makes use of her combination of size and skill. There is no clear matchup for Stewart on this Fever team. Look for her to play in attack mode right from the opening whistle and connect at a much greater efficiency today. Count on Stewart tallying over 20.5 points for the fifth time this season.
Skylar Diggins 22+ Points & Assists (-130)
At 34 years old, Skylar Diggins is still playing at an extremely high level. Now in her second season with the Seattle Storm, the six-time All-Star is averaging 17.8 points, 6.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game. The Storm enter tonight’s game on a three-game winning streak and most recently ended the Minnesota Lynx’s unbeaten start to the season.
Diggins has tallied 22+ combined points and assists in six of the 10 games thus far and in back-to-back matchups entering tonight. This will mark her first matchup with the Golden State Valkyries, but the first-year team is allowing 81.0 points per game to opponents and is conceding 19.3 assists per game so far this season. Each of these numbers ranks in the bottom seven of the WNBA.
The Valkyries have had an overall impressive start to their inaugural season, but their youth still shows at times. Diggins possesses the veteran savvy to capitalize on this and can take over as either a scorer or passer. She has tallied as many as 26 points and as many as 14 assists in a game already this season. Her 6.4 assists per game tie the career-high she set last year with Seattle.
Expect Diggins to be at the epicenter of Seattle’s attack and put her fingerprints all over this matchup. She has the talent around her to create looks that her teammates will capitalize on, and she still snaps into score-first mode for stretches. Count on her to be aggressive and tally 22+ combined points and assists for the seventh time this season and third straight game against this youthful Golden State roster.
Seattle Storm -10 (-110)
The Golden State Valkyries are coming off back-to-back wins over the Aces and Sparks and have quietly entered the playoff mix. While it is too early to be having too notable of takeaways from this, their level of play has been encouraging of late. But they are set to be without Janelle Salaun, who will temporarily leave the team to compete in EuroBasket competition. Salaun is coming off a 21-point, eight-rebound performance in the previous game. She is averaging 11.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game overall.
Seattle is loaded with veterans and holds a 6-4 record on the season. It will be at full strength for this matchup and is riding a three-game winning streak in which it has scored 83+ points in each. The Storm dropped 93 points in the previous victory over the Lynx and have tallied as many as 102 points in a game this season.
This level of scoring should be a massive concern for the Valkyries, who are scoring at the third-worst rate this season at 78.3 points per game. While they lead the league in three-point volume with 32.1 perimeter shots per game, Golden State is connecting at just a 27.3% rate, which ranks last in the WNBA.
The Storm are red-hot and have climbed to third in the league in effective field-goal percentage. They have a variety of players who can step up in any given game. Gabby Williams, Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler are all averaging over 10 points per game. Expect the Valkyries to feel the absence of Salaun and struggle to keep pace with this Storm team. They have overachieved in recent games to an extent, and this matchup with Seattle could serve as a wake-up call. Expect the Storm to take control and cover the 10-point spread, with three of their six wins coming by 10+ points already this season.
