Wings at Dream 5/24/19 - WNBA Picks & Predictions

On Friday, the Dallas Wings open their 2019 WNBA regular season on the road against the Atlanta Dream. The Wings have a new coach in Brian Agler which should help their defense. Skylar Diggins-Smith will return following her pregnancy leave but starts the season on the sidelines and rookie Arike Ogunbowale out of Notre Dame should help the offense. Liz Cambage last season’s leading scorer and leading rebounder is no longer with the Wings.

The Dream will feature three top guards in Tiffany Hayes, Alex Bentley and Renee Montgomery, but will be without their star Angel McCoughtry, who last August suffered an ACL tear. McCoughtry could return before season’s end. Marie Gulich will play her first year with Atlanta and is expected to be a big presence down low. Skylar Diggins-Smith is the returning high-scorer and assist maker for the Wings, but will start the season on pregnancy leave. Glory Johnson returns as the leading rebounder after averaging 5.9 per game in 2018. Ogunbowale and Brooke McCarty-Williams led the Wings in scoring during the preseason and are expected to do the same early this season.

Tiffany Hayes led the Dream in scoring last season with an average of 17.4 points per game. Renee Montgomery was third in scoring with an average of 10.2 points per game. Jessica Breland returns as the leading rebounder after averaging 8.0 per game in 2018, while Montgomery led the Dream in assists with an average of 3.5 per game.