WNBA betting trends, odds and predictions for Thursday, August 24th, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
WNBA Betting Pick
By Allen Moody
Bangthebook.com
The Los Angeles Sparks visit the Phoenix Mercury in the only WNBA game on Thursday’s schedule, in a contest that will be televised by ESPN. The Sparks are favored by 2.5 and the total is 162.5, while my numbers make it 81-80 in favor of Phoenix.
The Sparks won the first game of the season between the two at Phoenix 89-87 and then thumped the Mercury 90-59 in Los Angeles. The Sparks are shooting 50% for the season against Phoenix, while the Mercury is under 40% in the two games against Los Angeles, including 32.8% last game when they were never in it.
Phoenix is 15-15 on the season and in decent shape to make the playoffs, although a win would help wrap-up a spot in the postseason. It would be especially nice if they could do so against their rivals, Los Angeles.
The Mercury do get the edge in scheduling factors, as the Sparks have another showdown with the Minnesota Lynx on tap, which is the third time those two will have met and the first time they’ve played in Los Angeles this season. The Sparks didn’t need to put much effort into last game when they rolled past San Antonio by a 75-55 score. The Sparks have won three in a row, although they did return from a five-game road trip to face San Antonio and now have to make the relatively short journey to Phoenix for this one.
Los Angeles is just 9-7 on the road this season and have dropped games to the likes of Indiana, Atlanta and Dallas, teams they are much better than.
The Mercury are coming into this one off of consecutive blowout losses, being waxed at Connecticut and Minnesota, dropping both games by more than 25 points. Despite having a much better scoring margin at home than on the road, Phoenix has essentially the same record, going a rather dismal 7-7 at home and 8-8 away from home. The Mercury are 0-3 ATS as a home underdog this year, although two of those losses were by a single point against the line.
This is just the second home game for the Mercury this month and Talking Stick Resort Arena will be fairly well attended, as Phoenix has some great fans and this is a bit of a rivalry just due to the proximity of the two teams. Going to grab the Mercury +2.5 in what could be a pretty decent game to watch.
LOS ANGELES (22 - 8 ) at PHOENIX (15 - 15) - 8/24/2017, 9:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 3-11 ATS (-9.1 Units) on Thursday over the last 3 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 178-223 ATS (-67.3 Units) after scoring 75 points or more since 1997.
LOS ANGELES is 92-122 ATS (-42.2 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 6-2 against the spread versus PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES is 6-3 straight up against PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES vs. PHOENIX
Los Angeles is 6-2-1 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Phoenix's last 6 games when playing Los Angeles
Phoenix is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles
StatFox Super Situations
LOS ANGELES at PHOENIX
Play Under - Home teams where the total is greater than or equal to 140 revenging a loss versus opponent against opponent after 2 consecutive covers as a favorite 108-58 since 1997. ( 65.1% | 44.2 units ) 5-1 this year. ( 83.3% | 3.9 units )
LOS ANGELES at PHOENIX
Play On - Road teams vs. the money line (LOS ANGELES) after a game where a team made 50% of their shots or better against opponent after 2 straight games - allowing a shooting pct. of 45% or higher 66-43 since 1997. ( 60.6% | 0.0 units ) 4-2 this year. ( 66.7% | 0.0 units )
LOS ANGELES at PHOENIX
Play On - Favorites vs. the 1rst half line (LOS ANGELES) after scoring 45 points or more in the first half last game against opponent after a combined score of 155 points or more 97-52 over the last 5 seasons. ( 65.1% | 39.8 units ) 27-17 this year. ( 61.4% | 8.3 units )