Who will win this match-up?
Phoenix Mercury
@ Seattle Storm
Current odds:
Phoenix Mercury: (-160)
Seattle Storm: (+140)
• The line for this game is Phoenix by 3.5 points.
• Health issues within the team and coaching staff are expected to make the Seattle Storm’s defense of their WNBA title much more difficult. The Phoenix Mercury, meanwhile, have their own injuries concerns to deal with heading into the season.
• When these teams square off in suburban Seattle on Saturday, they’ll be minus plenty of star power from last summer when Seattle needed five games to put away Phoenix in the semifinals. MVP Breanna Stewart (21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds per game in 2018) and Sue Bird (10.1 ppg, 7.1 assists per game) were a big reason the Storm outlasted the Mercury, then swept Washington to claim the franchise’s third WNBA title.
• However, Stewart will miss the 2019 season after rupturing her Achilles while playing overseas and Bird is out indefinitely following arthroscopic knee surgery. Both are expected to be in attendance Saturday when the Storm, who went 26-8 a year ago, receive their championship rings, but their collective absence knocks the team from a repeat favorite to serious underdog.
• In addition to being minus Stewart and Bird, Seattle coach Dan Hughes continues to recover after having a cancerous tumor removed from his digestive tract, leaving Gary Kloppenburg to guide the team in the interim. Not to the mention, the Storm will be playing their home games this season at the Angel of the Winds Arena in nearby Everett and the University of Washington’s Alaska Airlines Arena while KeyArena undergoes renovations.
• Not exactly an overall ideal scenario coming off a championship season. However, guard Jewell Loyd (15.5 ppg), forward Natasha Howard (13.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and backup point guard Jordin Canada will be counted on to pick up the slack and keep Seattle competitive early this season, and possibly throughout.
• Since winning the 2014 WNBA crown, Phoenix lost in the conference final the next season and in the semifinals each of the last three campaigns. Going deep in the playoffs might prove to be a chore in 2019, especially when considering the health of star guard Diana Taurasi (20.7 ppg, 5.3 apg). The women’s basketball legend underwent a procedure on her back in late April that’s scheduled to sideline her 10-12 weeks.
• Phoenix, though, still has two of the league’s top players ready to go in superstar Brittney Griner (20.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.6 blocks per game) and DeWanna Bonner (17.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg). The Mercury also took versatile Stanford star Alanna Smith in the first round of last month’s draft.
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
•Coming Soon•
Top Pick Record For September 2022: 78-14
Top Pick Record For August 2022: 48-12
Top Pick Record For July 2022: 37-9
Top Pick Record For June 2022: 31-14
Top Pick Record For May 2022: 40-15
Top Pick Record For April 2022: 48-11
Top Pick Record For March 2022: 122-29
Top Pick Record For February 2022: 92-34
Top Pick Record For January 2022: 98-18
Top Pick Record For December 2021: 103-24
Top Pick Record For November 2021: 86-32
Top Pick Record For October 2021: 74-20
Top Pick Record For September 2021: 75-25
Top Pick Record For August 2021: 43-17
Top Pick Record For July 2021: 28-9
Top Pick Record For June 2021: 43-11
Top Pick Record For May 2021: 61-18
Top Pick Record For April 2021: 51-15
Top Pick Record For March 2021: 152-37
Top Pick Record For February 2021: 60-28
Top Pick Record For January 2021: 55-23
Top Pick Record For December 2020: 47-23
Top Pick Record For November 2020: 24-5
Top Pick Record For October 2020: 21-5
Top Pick Record For September 2020: `41-12
Top Pick Record For August 2020: 32-8
Top Pick Record For July 2020: 11-5
Top Pick Record For June 2020: 2-0
Top Pick Record For May 2020: 5-1
Top Pick Record For April 2020: 7-2
Top Pick Record For March 2020: 13-3
Top Pick Record For February 2020: 13-4
Top Pick Record For January 2020: 17-4
Top Pick Record For December 2019: 22-7
Top Pick Record For November 2019: 21-7
Top Pick Record For October 2019: 14-4
Top Pick Record For September 2019: 22-2
Top Pick Record For NBA: 220-106
Top Pick Record For NFL: 84-18
Top Pick Record For MLB: 195-76
Top Pick Record For NHL: 127-43
Top Pick Record For College Football: 120-34
Top Pick Record For Men's College Basketball: 241-83
Top Pick Record For Women's College Basketball: 137-23
Top Pick Record For WNBA: 56-11
Top Pick Record For Soccer: 68-12
Top Pick Record For UFC: 2-0
Top Pick Record For Tennis: 45-11
Top Pick Record For Hockey: 6-0
Top Pick Record For Golf: 3-1
Top Pick Record For Olympics: 3-0
Top Pick Record For Boxing: 1-0
Top Pick Record For Baseball: 3-2
Top Pick Record For Softball: 7-3
Top Pick Record For Volleyball: 6-0
Top Pick Record For Other: 21-0
Top Pick Record For Hoops: 6-1
Top Pick Record For Television: 1-0
Top Pick Record For Eating: 3-0
Top Pick Record For Cricket: 1-0
Top Pick Record For Lacrosse: 4-0
Top Pick Record For Track & Field: 1-0
An update on the old Streak for the cash game formally run by ESPN: http://streakforthecash.com