Eric Moody, ESPNAug 25, 2023, 12:25 PM ET
CloseFormer manager at a Fortune 100 financial services company, now living my dream creating fantasy and sports betting content about the NFL, NBA, and WNBA for ESPN.
Each day of the WNBA season, our team of fantasy and betting experts breaks down every game on the slate, making note of everything from injuries and lineup changes to recent trends and more.
All odds are provided by Caesars Sportsbook. Times are ET.
Here’s what to look for during today’s slate:
Los Angeles Sparks at Atlanta Dream
8:00 p.m. ET, State Farm Arena, Atlanta
Line: Sparks -2
Money line: Sparks (-125), Dream (+105)
Total: 160.5 points
BPI prediction:
Dream: 66.2% chance to win.
Projected margin of victory: 4.6 points
Injury report
Sparks: Nia Clouden (Out), Chiney Ogwumike (Out), Lexie Brown (Out), Katie Lou Samuelson (Out)
Dream: Allisha Gray (Day-To-Day), Nia Coffey (Out)
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Best bet: Sparks -2.0. Los Angeles is playing very well right now as they aim for a playoff spot. In the past four games, the Sparks rank fifth in offensive rating and first in defensive rating. Los Angeles is also 4-0 against the spread in their last four road games. Recently, the Dream have struggled mightily, losing seven of their last ten games. Atlanta ranks last in offensive rating during that period. Back on August 12th, the Sparks beat the Dream 85-74.
Fantasy streamer: Layshia Clarendon (rostered in 25.8% of ESPN leagues) has played very well for the Sparks with Lexie Brown out due to a non-COVID illness. In three of her past five games, Clarendon scored 25+ fantasy points. She averaged 28 minutes per game during that time. Right now, the veteran guard is playing very well.
Fantasy streamer: Karlie Samuelson (rostered in 16.8% of ESPN leagues) has been provided steady minutes while Chiney Ogwumike has missed 17 games with a foot injury. She’s scored 19+ fantasy points in three of her past five games. The rise of Samuelson with the Sparks this season has been amazing.
Fantasy streamer: Haley Jones (rostered in 4.2% of ESPN leagues) is firmly on the streaming radar with the Dream dreaming with numerous injuries, including Nia Coffey who’s out for the season. She played 30 minutes against the Aces on Tuesday night and had a career-best performance. The Stanford product scored 39 fantasy points. Despite only averaging 15.3 minutes and 10.9 fantasy points per game this season, Jones is worth speculative pickup.