WNBA Betting Preview: Atlanta Dream vs Los Angeles Sparks
No. 7 Sparks Look to Gain Edge in Standings on No. 6 Dream
Thursday’s afternoon matchup features the Atlanta Dream vs Los Angeles Sparks – a matchup between the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, respectively. The Dream sits a half-game up on the Sparks in the standings with one more meeting between these two teams set for August 5th.
Game Information
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- Game: Atlanta Dream (12-14) at LA Sparks (11-14)
- Location: Crypto.com Arena
- Day/Time:
Both teams come into this contest off a win, with the Sparks beating the lowly Indiana Fever on Tuesday, snapping a three-game losing streak, and the Dream beating up on the Las Vegas Aces on the road. Atlanta has to be feeling good after arguably their best performance of the season in which they beat the Aces 92-76 despite being 12.5-point underdogs. Guard Tiffany Hayes put up a game-high 31 points, rookie Rhyne Howard added 24 points and the Dream shot 62.5% from deep.
The first Atlanta Dream vs Los Angeles Sparks matchup took place back in early May. The Sparks were the three-point favorite on the road, but it was the Dream that earned the 77-75 win. In Thursday’s matchup, the Sparks are once again the favorite. They opened laying five points at home, but that line has moved in favor of the Dream and is currently Sparks -1.5. If you follow WNBA sports betting closely and were able to grab Atlanta at +5, you received great closing line value on this game.
While the Dream is the slightly better team at this point of the season, Atlanta is in a difficult schedule spot, playing their third-straight road game with one more against Seattle coming up on Sunday. This also has the making of a letdown spot for Atlanta after their big win over Las Vegas. All that said, the Sparks have been inconsistent this season that we’d prefer to avoid the side together.
The total for the Atlanta Dream vs The Los Angeles Sparks is set at 159 and we’d look to play the under. While both teams play at a pace that ranks in the top half of the league, they also rank in the bottom three in points per game and offensive rating over their last five games. We also expect some shooting regression from the Dream who shot 62.5% from three and 51.2% from the field in their last outing.
Both teams are also dealing with injuries that will hinder their offensive production. The Dream play at a much faster pace with forwarding player Monique Billings on the court, however, she remains on the injury report after suffering an ankle injury against the Sun last week. For the Sparks, Liz Cambage has missed the past two games while in Covid-19 health and safety protocols. She’s still listed on LA’s injury report but for conditioning purposes. Both Cambage and Chennedy Carter, who has been out with an ankle injury, are expected to play limited minutes against Atlanta.
Ultimately, this is a contest between two mediocre teams vying for playoff position. WNBA betting trends suggest that games with playoff implications are often tightly contested throughout, which is why we think the best play for this game is the under 159.
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