Defense Will Be Optional In Fever Vs Wings

Fever vs. Wings, 7:30 ET

Depending on the number you got, you had a wide range of possibilities from my last WNBA play. It opened at 5.5 and moved up to 7.5 where it closed. At one point I saw it at 8.5 at some books. The ending difference between the Liberty and the Lynx was seven points. So, you could've won, pushed, or lost the game. Either way, we have another good one that we can check out here as the Fever take on the Wings for the third time this season. 

The Fever are without Caitlin Clark, let's just address that right away. Clark is a great player and a great leader, but even when she has been on the court this year, she looks a bit rough. Her shot hadn't been falling, and she looked somewhat lost within the team as she tried to find her groove. Her passing never dropped, but she did have a lot of turnovers. Without her, the Fever have gone 3-2 over their past five games. They did beat the Connecticut Sun in her last game with them, but they were in the fourth quarter when she left the game. After dropping back-to-back games against the Liberty, the Fever have beaten the Aces, Sky, and Mercury in three straight. Their offense doesn't seem to be missing Clark as they have scored at least 77 points in all of the games, and 80 or more in their past four. Their defense hasn't been quite great lately, allowing at last 70 points top opponents in the last five games as well, and 98 or more in three of the past five. 

getty

The Wings are with their stud, Paige Bueckers. There is a quiet narrative around the league that she is having a better rookie season than Clark. It might actually be somewhat true. Bueckers is averaging 18.3 points per game, 5.5 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.8 steals. Clark led her team to the playoffs while averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. The difference is that Bueckers has a significantly worse starting point and team. The Fever had better players than what the Wings have. However, the Wings have been playing better than they were last year. They are even playing better than they did earlier in the year. After starting the season 1-11, the team has gone 7-9 over the past 16 games. The good news for them is that between Bueckers and Ogunbowale, they should have more than enough to build the team on. The team is allowing opponents a lot of points, still. Opponents are averaging 86.5 points against them. 

The Fever have faced the Wings twice this season and won both matchups. They had Clark for one game and not for the other. In the first matchup, there was no Clark and the Wings lost by eight while allowing 94 points. The second game was in Indiana with Clark and they lost by 19 - the game was over in the second quarter. In that one the Wings gave up 102 points. I think you can see where I'm going there. Play the over 167.5. I also think the Fever cover this -4.5 spread, but have less confidence in that. 

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