Following the All-Star break, the WNBA season will resume Tuesday night with a five-game slate. With the second half of the season upon us, DraftKings Sportsbook is offering O/U win total lines for every WNBA team.
Below, I have featured two of my favorite bets in this market.
Win Total Picks
Dallas Wings Over 28.5 Wins (-110)
This line is just too low for this up-and-coming Wings team. Dallas is 18-9 and ranks fifth in net rating this season. The squad is strong on both ends of the floor, ranking fourth in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating. The Wings have 17 games remaining, and they need to go 11-6 in these contests to cash this over — which is a very doable feat for this group.
After winning Rookie of the Year by a landslide last year, Paige Bueckers has been an MVP candidate in her sophomore campaign, averaging 20.9 points and 6.3 assists per game on 51.3% shooting. To complement the budding superstar, Dallas went out and signed Jessica Shepard and drafted Azzi Fudd with the No.1 pick this offseason, both of whom have been great fits alongside Bueckers.
Sheppard is averaging a double-double of 14.9 points and 12 rebounds per game, and was just named to her first All-Star team. Meanwhile, Fudd is averaging 13.2 points and has been great defensively, leading Dallas with 1.7 steals per game, which ranks fifth in the league.
Additionally, veteran Arike Ogunbowale has remained steady, averaging 14.6 points per contest. Despite Bueckers and Fudd being young players, the Wings impressively lead the WNBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. This team can score with the best of them, and Dallas shouldn’t slow in the second half of the season — the Wings have the second-easiest remaining schedule based on winning percentages.
Phoenix Mercury Under 17.5 Wins (-115)
The Mercury have been one of the biggest disappointments this season, and this group going at least 8-8 in its final 16 games is unlikely.
After going to the WNBA Finals last season, Phoenix is 10-18 and ranks 10th in net rating this season. The squad ranks bottom-five in both offensive and defensive rating. Satou Sabally was one of the Mercury’s best players in their run to the WNBA Finals last season, and losing the veteran to the Liberty in free agency has been difficult for Phoenix to overcome.
Early on, rookie Jovana Nogic showed some great flashes and looked like she could help fill the scoring void left behind by Sabally. But Nogic unfortunately is out for the rest of the season due to personal reasons, leaving Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas to carry the load.
Copper has been a great scorer, leading the team with 20.5 points per game, but her defense has been dreadful. Thomas’ defense has also been poor, and she’s struggled to elevate her offense in Sabally’s absence. Thomas is averaging 14.4 points and 8.3 assists per game, both of which are drops from last season.
Then there are veteran DeWanna Bonner and second-year player Valeriane Ayayi. While they’ve both had moments this season, they have been largely inconsistent overall.
Phoenix’s chances of making the playoffs are slim to none; the team is a -1600 favorite to miss the postseason on DraftKings Sportsbook. This disgruntled Mercury team packing it up early in a few weeks is very possible.
