Dallas Wings vs LA Sparks 9/2/20 - WNBA Picks & Predictions
The Los Angeles Sparks had a nine-game winning streak snapped their last time out when the Minnesota Lynx shot an impressive 51% from beyond the arc as LA fell 96-78 and dropped to 12-4 on the year. Dallas snapped a two-game losing streak with a 82-78 win over the Indiana Fever, a game where leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale scored 30 points on 11/22 from the field. The win improved the WIngs to 6-10 on the year,
The LA Sparks come in averaging 85.3 points per game to rank 5th in the scoring offense in the WNBA. The Sparks offense has a ton of girls who can score the ball and have five players averaging over 9 points. Leading the way for the Sparks in scoring is guard Chelsea Gray averaging 14 points per game and adding in a team-high 4.9 assists per game. Complimenting Gray and operating in the paint is Candance Parker who leads all the WNBA in rebounding with 9.4 per game while adding in 13.2 points per game.
Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale leads all the WNBA in scoring averaging 22 points per game and as mentioned before, had 30 points her last time out. The Wings offense relies heavily on her and averages just under 19 shots per game. Ogunbowale is listed as questionable for this game, be sure to check into her status as we get closer to game time. Outside of Ogunbowale, the Wings struggle on the offensive end averaging 81.9 points per game to rank 7th in the WNBA in scoring offense.
Los Angeles is one of the better defensive teams in the WNBA and their last timeout simply ran into a hot team; the Sparks are allowing 80 points per game on the season to rank 5th in the WNBA in scoring defense and opposing teams are shooting 44.8% from the field. Dallas has really struggled on the defensive end allowing 84.9 points per game to rank 8th in scoring defense while opposing teams are shooting 46.8% from the field, the 11th ranked defensive field goal percentage.
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Los Angeles has already clinched their spot in the playoffs and will be missing starting center Nneka Ogwumike. Ogwumike is averaging 12.3 points per game and adding 4.4 rebounds, second on the team this season. In most situations, this would be a huge loss, but with Candance Parker in the middle and the Wings offense not really threatening an inside presence, the Sparks fare fone against the scoring talent of Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale will also likely be tasked with chasing Sparks leading scorer Chelsea Grey around all night and the depth of the Sparks scoring attack proves to be too much for Dallas. Final score prediction, LA Sparks win and cover ATS 86-72.