WNBA Odds, Picks & Predictions: Monday (5/20)
The WNBA has a pair of games on the schedule for Monday night.
The Connecticut Sun and Indiana Fever square off for a rematch at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 7 p.m. ET. The game can be viewed or streamed on ESPN. The Seattle Storm and New York Liberty also tangle at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with a tip time of 7 p.m. ET. That game can be streamed on ESPN3.
Let’s build that bankroll for the WNBA season and the rest of the NBA Playoffs with our best WNBA picks for Monday, May 20.
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Monday’s Best WNBA Picks
WNBA odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All WNBA picks are for 1 unit
Connecticut Sun (-250) @ Indiana Fever (+198) | O/U 163.5 (-110/-110)
The Sun (2-0) head to Indianapolis with a pair of wins out of the gate, including a dominating 92-71 victory over the Fever (0-3) at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., in the team’s opener. That spoiled the much-anticipated WNBA debut of No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark, although she still finished with 20 points.
While Clark had 10 turnovers in that game against the Sun, there isn’t a lot of shame in that. In the early going, Connecticut is the top-scoring defense in the WNBA. While the sample size isn’t great through just two games, the Sun were also the best scoring defense in the 2023 season, so it is likely a trend that is here to stay for the long haul with Connecticut.
The Sun offense isn’t low-scoring, though. Connecticut went for 92 points against Indiana and won 84-77 against the Washington Mystics in Game No. 2, although the Sun just missed the cover as 8-point favorites. DeWanna Bonner has racked up 21.0 points per game (PPG), 6.0 rebounds per game (RPG) and 3.5 steals per game (SPG) in the first two outings while shooting an efficient 51.5% from the field. She isn’t doing it alone, though, as DiJonai Carrington has posted 18.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.0 assists per game (APG) and 1.5 SPG in the two wins, while Alyssa Thomas is good for 13.0 PPG, 10.5 RPG and 9.5 APG with 2.5 SPG. Tyasha Harris has 10.5 PPG, too. So, this team has a high-octane offense to go along with that lockdown D. The Sun will be a problem in the East again as long as they can stay healthy.
For the Fever, the schedule maker wasn’t terribly kind to “CC†and her teammates. Indiana is coming off a home-and-home with the defending East champion New York Liberty, sandwiched between two games with the Sun. Ouch. Indiana has dropped all three games to date, but there have been some small signs of improvement.
In Saturday’s game at Barclays against the Fever, Clark went for 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, easily her strongest performance to date. She added eight assists, six rebounds and a steal while hitting four more 3-pointers. She is just the fourth player in WNBA history to amass at least 50 points and at least 15 assists through her first three WNBA games, joining Sue Bird, Nikki McCray-Penson and Candace Parker. Not bad company. Of course, Clark did turn it over eight times, and she had 10 TO in the first game against Connecticut, so those miscues need to be cleaned up.
Indiana shot 41.3% (33-of-80) against the Liberty on Saturday but just 34.6% (9-of-26) from behind the arc. It actually outrebounded New York by a 34-to-32 margin, though, and that’s key, including 10 offensive boards. If the Fever can start generating some second-chance opportunities while cutting down the turnovers, they’ll be able to hang more. Indiana had a plus-1 margin in assists, plus-2 in rebounds and it was actually plus-5 in turnovers. New York just shot better at 48.4% (31-of-64), while it was “feverish†from behind the arc at 46.9% (15-of-32). That was the difference.
While Indiana improved against a very good Liberty team, the Fever still has a long way to go before knocking off the top-tier teams. It’s 0-2 against the spread (ATS) as a single-digit underdog through two games and 0-1 SU/ATS at home. Keep fading Clark and the Fever until they get one of the weaker teams on the schedule. Look for the Sun to “rise†in the second half, pulling away for a double-digit victory.
WNBA Pick: Sun -6 (-114)
Seattle Storm (+390) @ New York Liberty (-550) | O/U 170 (-110/-110)
In the “other†game, as Clark and Indiana get a lot of eyeballs, we might have a better matchup. The Storm (1-2) head to Barclays to tangle with the aforementioned Liberty (3-0). Seattle picked up its first win in the nation’s capital over the weekend against the Washington Mystics, winning 84-75 as a 4.5-point favorite as the Under (160.5) just came in. That came on the heels of a tough double-overtime loss in Minnesota to kick off the road trip. The Storm will be an underdog for the first time this season.
The Liberty held off the Fever 91-80 at Barclays, just missing the cover as a 13-point favorite in the home opener as the Over (169) connected in the final minute. New York has scored at least 85 points in all three games, although it averaged 96.5 PPG in two games against the defensively-challenged Fever in a back-to-back. We should see a much better defensive effort from the Storm.
Breanna Stewart leads the charge for the Lib, going for 21.0 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.7 SPG and 1.7 BPG while hitting 42.9% from behind the arc. Jonquel Jones is also an offensive force, racking up 17.7 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 3.7 APG and 1.7 BPG while connecting on a team-best 46.2% of her 3-pointer attempts. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (15.0 PPG) and Sabrina Ionescu (13.7 PPG) also make up a “Big 4†for the Liberty. Courtney Vandersloot might be among the top two players on many other WNBA rosters, but she is fifth on the team with 8.3 PPG to go along with 5.3 APG, 3.3 RPG and 1.7 SPG. This Liberty team is deep.
The Storm won in Washington on Sunday despite missing Nneka Ogwumike due to an ankle injury, which she suffered in the 2OT loss in the Twin Cities. She had posted 22.0 PPG and 10.0 RPG in her first games in a Storm uniform after coming over from the Los Angeles Sparks as a free agent after 12 years of service. With Ogwumike in street clothes, Jewell Loyd took the team upon her back. She scored 24 points, including 12-of-14 from the free-throw line and overcoming an 0-for-6 shooting night from behind the arc. Ezi Magbegor made it look easy. going for 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Skylar Diggins-Smith was good for 18 points.
This Seattle team has the offense to hang with almost anybody in the league, but the key is health. With Ogwumike in the lineup, confidence would be high that Seattle could not only cover but perhaps challenge New York for the win. But if Ogwumike is again sidelined, this one could get away from the Storm in the second half. We’ll roll with Seattle under the assumption the All-Star will be available. Even if Ogwumike is sidelined, they looked good enough over the weekend to win in Washington, while New York failed to cover as a double-digit favorite against Indiana. But confidence isn’t as high.
WNBA Pick: Storm +11 (-112)
Daniel E. Dobish is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Daniel, check out his archive and follow him @danieledobish.