WNBA Betting Preview: Aces V. Mystics Highlights Early Games On Sunday

The WNBA is back! After a month-long hiatus for the Tokyo Olympics, all 12 teams return to the court on Sunday, which means WNBA betting resumes for punters who have been anticipating the opportunity to put their action down.

Sportsbooks have posted lines and odds for all six games, so let’s break down everything you need to know about each game from a betting perspective, starting with the first three games. (Here’s a preview of the three later games.)

WNBA betting preview: Seattle Storm at Chicago Sky (4 p.m. ET, ABC)

The Storm sit in first place in the standings at 16-5, while the Sky are at the .500 mark (10-10). With Candace Parker in the lineup, however, Chicago is 9-3. Bettor should also note that neither Sue Bird nor Breanna Stewart will take the court for the Storm in this one.

These two teams have gotten a lot of love from sportsbooks so far this season — they’ve combined to be favored in 35 of their 41 games. Only the Aces have been favored more often.

Neither team has lived up to those sportsbook expectations, however, as Seattle and Chicago have the two worst records against the spread. The Storm are a paltry 7-14 against the spread, and the Sky are 8-12.

The good news for Storm bettors is that Seattle has fared much better against the spread away from home. The Storm have covered in five of nine games as road favorites and have outscored the spread by 1.78 points in those games.

Connecticut Sun at Dallas Wings (4 p.m. ET, ESPN3)

The Sun and the Wings have arguably been the two biggest surprises this season in terms of performance above expectation. This is certainly true when looking at the betting numbers. Both teams have covered their spreads by more points per game than any other team.

Dallas leads the WNBA in that category at 4.14, and Connecticut is close behind with a mark of 3.53. No other team has averaged a cover of more than 1.55, so the Wings and the Sun stand far ahead of the pack in performance against the spread.

Both teams have been profitable on the moneylines as well. With bets of one unit per game, the Wings have returned 0.38 units, and the Sun lead the league with a return of 4.00 units.

The Sun have also been kind to under bettors this year, as the under has hit in a league-high 13 of their 20 contests. Between their slow pace and their stingy defense, the Sun (and their opponents) have come up 5.73 points short of the PointsBet Sportsbook totals, on average.

Washington Mystics at Las Vegas Aces (6 p.m. ET, League Pass)

Las Vegas is the only team this season yet to play as underdogs, as it has been favored in 20 of its 21 games with the 21st being a pick’em on PointsBet. It’s only fitting, then, that they are the current title favorite at most sportsbooks (+200 at DraftKings Sportsbook and BetRivers Sportsbook).

Washington, on the other hand, has been favored just seven times — fewer than all but the Sparks among last year’s playoff teams.

That could change soon, as Elena Delle Donne’s much anticipated return may be imminent. Adding the former MVP to the mix alongside another former MVP in Tina Charles would be a massive boon for the Mystics.

Delle Donne or no Delle Donne, this matchup on Sunday will be a clash of titans in the paint. Last year’s MVP will go toe-to-toe with this year’s league-leading scorer as recent Olympic teammates A’ja Wilson and Charles meet up. Charles (26.3 points per game) is on pace to break the WNBA’s scoring record held by Diana Taurasi (25.3 in 2006). Both are in the top four in MVP odds at most books, so futures bettors will also want to keep an eye on this contest.

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