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Andre Snellings, ESPN
Each day of the WNBA season, our team of fantasy and betting experts breaks down every game on the schedule, making note of everything from injuries and lineup changes to recent trends and more.
Here’s what to look for today:
There are two games on tap for Sunday, starting with the Minnesota Lynx traveling to Atlanta to face the Dream and followed by the Dallas Wings taking on the Sparks in LA. The Lynx and Dream are both off to fast starts to the season with only one loss each, while the Wings and Sparks are both just outside the top-8 early in the season.
Let’s dig a little deeper into both games to find some angles of interest from both a fantasy hoops and a betting perspective.
Sunday’s fantasy stream team
Monique Billings, Dallas Wings (available in 74.6% of ESPN leagues)
Billings moved into the starting lineup after Natasha Howard suffered an injury and has responded with two huge efforts. She has averaged 19.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.5 BPG and 2.0 APG in 33.0 MPG so far this season and should be rostered and starting in every league right now.
Maddy Siegrist, Dallas Wings (available in 83.4% of leagues)
Siegrist has alternated between starting and coming off the bench this season, but turned in a monster effort of 22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a 3-pointer in 37 minutes in her last game on Saturday.
Her production has been boom-or-bust this season, but this sort of upside makes her a quality streamer for a light Sunday slate.
Picks, projections and injury reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. All odds are provided by ESPN BET.
Minnesota Lynx at Atlanta Dream
6 p.m. ET, State Farm Arena, Atlanta
Line: Dream -2.5
Money line: Lynx (+125), Dream (-150)
Total: 166.5 points
BPI prediction:
Dream: 56.3% chance to win.
Projected margin of victory: 1.8 points
Injury report
Lynx: Diamond Miller (Out)
Dream: Jordin Canada (Out)
Best bet: Lynx (+4.5) (-115)
The Lynx are off to one of the hottest starts in the WNBA, leading the league with a +9.5 PPG scoring margin. The Dream are also playing well to start the season, winners of two of their first three games and also are at home. However, 4.5 points is too many to give against a Lynx team playing at such a high level. The Dream are favored to win according to BP, but by only 1.8-points, falling within the spread.
Dallas Wings at Los Angeles Sparks
9 p.m. ET, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
Line: Wings -1.5
Money line: Wings (-115), Sparks (-105)
Total: 163.5 points
BPI prediction:
Sparks: 50.8% chance to win.
Projected margin of victory: 0.2 points
Injury report
Wings: Jaelyn Brown (Out), Natasha Howard (Out), Satou Sabally (Out)
Sparks: Azura Stevens (Out)
Arike Ogunbowale over 26.5 points (+105)
Ogunbowale has been scorching to start the season, showing she can carry a huge offensive load with both Satou Sabally and Howard sidelined.
Ogunbowale has averaged 31.0 PPG through four games and already has two games of at least 35 points. She has been aggressive taking the ball to the rim (31 free throw attempts over her past three games), but also has been hot from behind the arc (14-of-34, 41.7% from 3-point range) over that span.
