WNBA picks today: Best bets include Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Plum props
With five games on the schedule, check out Tuesday's WNBA best bets

We have our first five-game slate of the WNBA season, highlighted by the 4-0 Minnesota Lynx hosting the 3-1 Seattle Storm at 8 p.m. ET. The WNBA's other undefeated team, the defending champion New York Liberty, also get a home affair on Tuesday night, taking on the Golden State Valkyries at 7 p.m. ET. The rest of the schedule features the Dallas Wings at Connecticut Sun at 7 p.m., the Atlanta Dream at Los Angeles Sparks at 10 p.m. ET and the Chicago Sky at Phoenix Mercury at 10 p.m.
Looking to get in on WNBA betting at the best betting sites? Want to play WNBA player props? Let's check out the top plays from this slate -- including a few player prop wagers -- with odds from FanDuel and DraftKings sportsbooks.
Paige Bueckers props
- Over 25.5 points + rebounds + assists -112 (1 unit, FD)
- 10+ assists +500 (0.5 units, DK)
- 8+ rebounds +950 (0.25 units, FD)
- 9+ rebounds +1600 (0.25 units, DK)
I just have a hunch that Bueckers has a monster game here. The Wings are off to an 0-4 start but are 4-point road favorites here against the 0-4 Sun. Bueckers played only 28 and 30 minutes in the two Wings games in which their opponents mostly had double-digit leads in the fourth quarter, compared to 37 minutes each in the other two games that were closer in the fourth. With a good chance here to finally get in the win column, I think Bueckers will get more minutes -- meaning more opportunities to stuff the stat sheet.
Bueckers is returning to Connecticut for the first time in her WNBA career and will be playing in the arena that she's familiar with from her college days, as she went 15-0 at Mohegan Sun Arena during her time at UConn.
The Wings and Sun both rank in the bottom half of the WNBA in points per game (Wings ninth, Sun 13th), but they're second and eighth, respectively, in shots per game. Additionally, the Wings are 11th and the Sun are 12th in defensive rating (only ahead of the 13th-ranked Chicago Sky). To sum it up, these are two teams that get up a lot of shots, miss a lot of shots and play poor defense.
Wings forward Myisha Hines-Allen is questionable to play tonight with an ankle injury and was seen on the bike for most of Monday's practice rather than on the court. Hines-Allen leads the team in rebounding (7.0 RPG) and is third in assists (3.3 APG). Even if she does play, I'd expect her minutes to take a slight hit. If she doesn't, it could give Bueckers an opportunity to stuff the stat sheet even more as she's forced to take on an even bigger role.
In four WNBA games, Bueckers already has games with 10 and 8 assists as well as 7 and 6 rebounds. She will get the chance to shine in an arena where the road fans will be cheering her on and against the weakest team in the WNBA, and I think she will take advantage of that with a huge performance. Instead of taking Bueckers to get a double-double at +500 on FanDuel, I'd rather max her stat categories for assists and rebounds since I think she's live to put up 10+ in either.
Sparks money line -120 (1 unit, FanDuel)
Kelsey Plum Under 23.5 points -114 (1 unit, FanDuel)
So you're probably thinking that these two bets are counterintuitive, that the Sparks are much more likely to win if Plum has a huge game. But let me explain my thought process here.
I really like this Dream team, but this is a horrible situational spot. Atlanta played the WNBA's first back-to-back of the season on Saturday and Sunday, winning both games at home. Now the Dream have to play a third game in four days after taking a cross-country flight to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Sparks have played their past two games at home, so they've been comfortable for a while in Los Angeles.
Then on the injury front, Dream center Brittney Griner will miss her second straight game with a knee injury. The Sun couldn't really take advantage of her absence, but I think the Sparks can with the forward tandem of Azura Stevens (17.0 PPG, 9.2 RPG) and Dearica Hamby (16.8 PPG, 7.8 RPG).
Additionally, the Sparks are likely to get back Rickea Jackson (listed as probable) after she missed the last three games with a concussion. Jackson averaged 13.4 PPG in her rookie campaign and seems primed to make a second-year leap. So how much did the Sparks miss her? In their season opener on the road against the Valkyries with Jackson playing, they won by 17. In their next matchup vs. the Valkyries at home without Jackson, they lost by nine. Jackson adds a big element on both offense and defense for the Sparks, and they're clearly a better team with her healthy.
So if the Sparks take advantage of Griner's absence by feeding Stevens and Hamby down low along with Jackson returning and getting her fair share of shots, it seems like this is a game where Plum may not be featured as much. She has been sensational in her first season with the Sparks, averaging 24.8 points per game, and is coming off a 28-point performance against the Sky that included six made 3-pointers. But her points prop closed at 23.5 against the worst perimeter defense in the league (Sky), and it's once again 23.5 against one of the better perimeter defenses in Atlanta.
Atlanta's Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard are extremely frustrating matchups for opposing lead guards to score on. The only WNBA game in Caitlin Clark's career without a made 3-pointer came against the Dream in their second matchup, along with a season low in points scored (11). They've also held Sun guard Marina Mabrey to 12 points (on 4-of-14 shooting), Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale to a season-low five points (on 2-of-10 shooting) and Mystics guard Brittney Sykes to 22 points (on 6-of-20 shooting, and those 22 points were her lowest scoring output before her leg injury). This is going to be a tough matchup for the 5-foot-8 Plum, with the 6-foot Gray and 6-foot-2 Howard using their size and athleticism to slow her down. But at least she'll have other options to rely on in this showdown.
Season Record: 5-1, +6.28 units
















