2016 wnba thread news notes picks !

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WNBA
Long Sheet

Sunday, October 2

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MINNESOTA (30 - 6) at PHOENIX (18 - 20) - 10/2/2016, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MINNESOTA is 13-30 ATS (-20.0 Units) after playing 3 consecutive home games since 1997.
PHOENIX is 8-0 ATS (+8.0 Units) on Sunday games this season.
MINNESOTA is 10-2 ATS (+7.8 Units) in the conference finals since 1997.
PHOENIX is 31-43 ATS (-16.3 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MINNESOTA is 11-8 against the spread versus PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 11-8 straight up against PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
12 of 19 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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LOS ANGELES (28 - 8) at CHICAGO (19 - 18) - 10/2/2016, 10:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 31-46 ATS (-19.6 Units) as a favorite over the last 3 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 87-116 ATS (-40.6 Units) after a win by 10 points or more since 1997.
LOS ANGELES is 163-209 ATS (-66.9 Units) after scoring 75 points or more since 1997.
LOS ANGELES is 13-23 ATS (-12.3 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 17-30 ATS (-16.0 Units) against Western conference opponents over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 17-30 ATS (-16.0 Units) in non-conference games over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 10-19 ATS (-10.9 Units) in home games after allowing 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 23-34 ATS (-14.4 Units) after scoring 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 8-1 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES is 8-1 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Sunday, October 2

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Trend Report
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3:00 PM
LOS ANGELES vs. CHICAGO
Los Angeles is 5-11 ATS in its last 16 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 7 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

5:00 PM
MINNESOTA vs. PHOENIX
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota's last 5 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Minnesota is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Minnesota
Phoenix is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Minnesota

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WNBA BEST BETS: FRIDAY NIGHT RESULTS 2 - 2

WLT PCT UNITS

ATS Picks 97-90-5 51.87% -1000

O/U Picks 91-101-0 47.40% -10050

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LA at CHI 03:00 PM

CHI +7.0

O 174.0


MIN at PHO 05:00 PM

MIN -1.5

O 172.0

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WNBA Playoff Capsules
October 2, 2016

PHOENIX (AP) Maya Moore scored 20 points and Natasha Howard added 17 to help the defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx beat the Phoenix Mercury 82-67 on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep of the semifinal series.

The top-seeded Lynx, who also eliminated the Mercury in the penultimate round a year ago, await the winner of Los Angeles-Chicago in their return trip to the WNBA finals.

Diana Taurasi had 12 points, after averaging 26.5 in her first four playoff games this year, as the eighth-seeded Mercury again had trouble with turnovers (15) and shot just 41 percent from the field. Taurasi was held to just one point in the second half, missing her three attempts from the field, all from 3-point range.

Howard had six points during a key third quarter run that saw the Lynx pull away.

SKY 70, SPARKS 66

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Courtney Vandersloot scored 17 points and the Sky held off the Sparks to force a Game 4 in the WNBA semifinals.

Imani Boyette added 13 points and Clarissa Dos Santos had 10 for the fourth-seeded Sky, who have been playing without leading scorer and rebounder Elena Delle Donne. The 2015 league MVP underwent right thumb surgery on Sept. 13.

League MVP Nneka Ogwumike had 16 of her 22 points in the first half and Kristi Toliver added 13 for the second-seeded Sparks, who won the first two games of the series at home by double digits.

Two-time MVP Candace Parker shot 3 for 14 from the field for nine points and league sixth woman of the year Jantel Lavender finished with six points for the Sparks.

Game 4 is back here Tuesday night.

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SEMIFINALS


#1 LYNX SWEEP #8 MERCURY 3-0

Game 3 (Lynx 82, Mercury 67) — Minnesota is Finals bound again, as they cruised past the Mercury in Game 3 to complete the sweep of their semifinal series. Maya Moore lead all scorers with 20 points, and Natasha Howard put in an impressive effort off the bench, finishing with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Box Score |

Game 2 (Lynx 96, Mercury 86) — Minnesota’s star power once again proved too much for the Mercury, and Maya Moore once again led the charge with 26 points. The Lynx took command in a dominating first quarter, outscoring Phoenix 35-24 in the opening frame. The teams combined for a WNBA Playoff record 62 free throws. Box Score | Olympians Lead Lynx | Brunson 2nd in Playoff Rebounding

Game 1 (Lynx 113, Mercury 95) — Behind 31 points from Maya Moore — including 15 in the first quarter — and with five more Lynx players scoring in double-figures, Minnesota set the WNBA regulation playoff scoring record with 113 points in their victory over Phoenix in Game 1 of their Semifinal matchup. Diana Taurasi poured in 25 points in the loss. Box Score | Moore Pours in 31 | Moore vs. Taurasi Duel



#2 SPARKS LEAD #4 SKY, 2-1

Game 3 (Sky 70, Sparks 66) — The Chicago Sky locked up on the defensive end in the second half, holding the Sparks to just 27 points over the final two quarters as they stormed back from a double-digit deficit to take Game 3. Courtney Vandersloot lead the Sky with 17 points, while rookie Imani Boyette stepped up in a big way, delivering a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Box Score |

Game 2 (Sparks 99, Sky 84) — Candace Parker and Jantel Lavender scored 20 points each to lead all scorers, and Nneka Ogwumike added 18 of her own as the Sparks cruised to a Game 2 victory. They knocked down 10 three-pointers on the evening, and held the Sky to just 38.5 percent shooting from the field. Box Score | Sparks Sink 10 Threes | Parker, Ogwumike Combine for 38

Game 1 (Sparks 95, Sky 75) — Fresh off Nneka’s MVP award and Jantel Lavender taking home Sixth Woman of the Year, the Sparks looked like a force to be reckoned with in their 20-point victory over the Sky. Ogwumike and Candace Parker combined for 57 points in the victory. Elena Delle Donne was ruled out for Chicago as she recovers from thumb surgery. Box Score | Parker Drops 30 Points | Ogwumike’s Double-Double

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Sky force Game 4 against Sparks
October 2, 2016

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) Chicago Sky rookie Imani Boyette didn't want to continue playing poorly in the WNBA semifinals.

The 6-foot-7 center averaged three points and 4.5 rebounds in two double-digits losses to the Los Angeles Sparks. Boyette played better - much better, scoring all 13 of her points after halftime and grabbing 11 rebounds as the Sky held off the Sparks 70-66 on Sunday to force a Game 4.

''I hadn't shown up in the series yet - the lights have been kind of bright,'' Boyette said. ''I've been guarding two of the best players, so I was very much a rookie this series. My teammates have done a really good job of encouraging me and staying on me.''

Boyette scored seven points in the third quarter as the Sky turned a nine-point deficit into a two-point lead going into the final quarter.

''She's a body down there, so she can't go ignored,'' league MVP Nneka Ogwumike said. ''We weren't prepared for that.''

Courtney Vandersloot added 17 points and Clarissa Dos Santos had 10 for the fourth-seeded Sky, who have been playing without leading scorer and rebounder Elena Delle Donne. The 2015 league MVP underwent right thumb surgery on Sept. 13.

''We were confident going into this game because we knew they hadn't seen our best yet,'' Vandersloot said.

Ogwumike had 16 of her 22 points in the first half and Kristi Toliver added 13 for the second-seeded Sparks, who won the first two games of the series at home by double digits.

The Sparks made 6 of their 33 shots beyond the arc.

''Their zone affected us. We didn't adjust,'' two-time MVP Candace Parker said.

Parker shot 3 for 14 from the field for nine points but grabbed 15 rebounds. She averaged 25 points in the other two games. League sixth woman of the year Jantel Lavender finished with six points for the Sparks.

Defending champion and top-seeded Minnesota has a 2-0 lead over Phoenix in the other semifinal series, with Game 3 later Sunday.

Toliver hit a 3 for a two-point Sparks lead with 1:30 left, but Boyette made two layups and Vandersloot hit a jumper for a four-point lead. Ogwumike missed a 3 with 8 seconds left, and Vandersloot made two free throws to seal it.

The Sky opened the third quarter with a 17-6 run to take the lead. Ogwumike and Parker were scoreless in the third, when the Sky outscored Los Angeles 19-8.

''Our defensive intensity, we were able to stop them a little bit in the second half,'' Vandersloot said. ''They scored eight points in the third quarter, and that's unheard for a team that skilled and that many offensive threats.''

The Sparks led by 15 in the first half, but the Sky scored the final six points of the second quarter to pull within nine.

''We got up by a lot, and we got a little frazzled,'' Ogwumike said.

Los Angeles won 95-75 and 99-84 in the other games.

''They were extremely hungry to win,'' Sparks coach Brian Agler said. ''We were like that in LA, but not quite like that here.''

TIP-INS

Sparks co-owner Magic Johnson was in attendance. ... The Sparks scored at least 93 points in four of their previous five meetings with Chicago. ... During the regular season, Los Angeles led the WNBA with a 48.7 percent field goal percentage, while the Sky topped the league in scoring at 86.2 points.

STILL OUT

Delle Donne has missed nine straight games. She averaged 21.5 points to share the league scoring title with New York's Tina Charles.

UP NEXT

Game 4 is in Chicago on Tuesday night

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Armadillo: Tuesday's six-pack

Odds to win the World Series:

7-4– Chicago Cubs

5-1– Texas Rangers

6-1– Boston Red Sox

7-1– Los Angeles Dodgers/Washington Nationals

14-1– Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays

20-1– New York Mets

25-1– Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants

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Armadillo: Tuesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but………

13) Tennessee won their game Saturday at Georgia on a Hail Mary on the last play of the game; Pitt Panthers scored a pick-6 on the last play of their game against Marshall.

In both games, the PAT wasn’t tried after the TD, because time had run out, which was bad news for gamblers who had the two favorites, since both failed to cover by half a point.

12) Home teams are 13-3 vs spread in SEC conference games so far, 10-2 in Pac-12 games; in all the other conferences combined, home teams are 29-34 vs spread in conference play.

11) This year and last, Toronto Blue Jays are a combined 181-142, but just 35-53 in one-run games.

10) Heard some good news over the weekend; 71-year old Sam Wyche, the former NFL coach (Bengals/Bucs) received the heart transplant he needed. Has to be a weird thing, waiting for someone else to pass away (often unexpectedly) so you can have their heart.

9) Baylor has an odd football schedule; they’re off on both October 8 and 22 and play doormat Kansas on the 15th, so basically they have three open dates in a row. They should be unbeaten when they play TCU/Oklahoma back-to-back later on.

8) There were 12 catcher interference calls this year when Jacoby Ellsbury was hitting; with all the baseball I watch every night, think I saw one catchers’ interference the whole season. It doesn’t happen very often.

7) College basketball practices started last weekend; from reports on Twitter, every single practice went really, really well. Either that, or the team who had lousy practices stayed off of social media.

6) Had to laugh the other night; was watching a Bruins-Red Wings NHL preseason game- the announcers spent a good five minutes discussing how many teeth a certain player had knocked out by a slap shot last year. Losing 13, 14 teeth- that had to hurt. Hockey players are tough.

5) North Carolina’s punter is a 27-year old freshman from Australia.

4) BYU’s kicker is the grandson of former Cougars’ coach LaVell Edwards. Speaking of BYU, their first five games this year were decided by a total of 11 points.

3) I despise taunting penalties; either let ‘em talk a little, or just throw a flag and call it offsetting penalties. Picking out the instigator is stupid— it goes on the whole game. Very subjective as to who started what. NFL football is VERY over-officiated— too damn many penalty flags.

2) Evander Holyfield’s son is a freshman running back at Georgia.

1) Houston Astros were 28-25 in one-run games this year, ending a dismal streak from 2011-2015, where they went 93-148 in games decided by one run.

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WNBA
Long Sheet

Tuesday, October 4

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LOS ANGELES (28 - 9) at CHICAGO (20 - 18) - 10/4/2016, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 21-32 ATS (-14.2 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 13-24 ATS (-13.4 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 12-26 ATS (-16.6 Units) in home games on Tuesday since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 8-2 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES is 8-2 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Tuesday, October 4

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
LOS ANGELES vs. CHICAGO
Los Angeles is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 8 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Chicago's last 15 games
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

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WNBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, October 4


Los Angeles @ Chicago

Game 601-602
October 4, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Los Angeles
112.989
Chicago
114.543
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Chicago
by 1 1/2
173
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Los Angeles
by 7
168
Dunkel Pick:
Chicago
(+7); Over

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Sky force Game 4 against Sparks
October 2, 2016

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) Chicago Sky rookie Imani Boyette didn't want to continue playing poorly in the WNBA semifinals.

The 6-foot-7 center averaged three points and 4.5 rebounds in two double-digits losses to the Los Angeles Sparks. Boyette played better - much better, scoring all 13 of her points after halftime and grabbing 11 rebounds as the Sky held off the Sparks 70-66 on Sunday to force a Game 4.

''I hadn't shown up in the series yet - the lights have been kind of bright,'' Boyette said. ''I've been guarding two of the best players, so I was very much a rookie this series. My teammates have done a really good job of encouraging me and staying on me.''

Boyette scored seven points in the third quarter as the Sky turned a nine-point deficit into a two-point lead going into the final quarter.

''She's a body down there, so she can't go ignored,'' league MVP Nneka Ogwumike said. ''We weren't prepared for that.''

Courtney Vandersloot added 17 points and Clarissa Dos Santos had 10 for the fourth-seeded Sky, who have been playing without leading scorer and rebounder Elena Delle Donne. The 2015 league MVP underwent right thumb surgery on Sept. 13.

''We were confident going into this game because we knew they hadn't seen our best yet,'' Vandersloot said.

Ogwumike had 16 of her 22 points in the first half and Kristi Toliver added 13 for the second-seeded Sparks, who won the first two games of the series at home by double digits.

The Sparks made 6 of their 33 shots beyond the arc.

''Their zone affected us. We didn't adjust,'' two-time MVP Candace Parker said.

Parker shot 3 for 14 from the field for nine points but grabbed 15 rebounds. She averaged 25 points in the other two games. League sixth woman of the year Jantel Lavender finished with six points for the Sparks.

Defending champion and top-seeded Minnesota has a 2-0 lead over Phoenix in the other semifinal series, with Game 3 later Sunday.

Toliver hit a 3 for a two-point Sparks lead with 1:30 left, but Boyette made two layups and Vandersloot hit a jumper for a four-point lead. Ogwumike missed a 3 with 8 seconds left, and Vandersloot made two free throws to seal it.

The Sky opened the third quarter with a 17-6 run to take the lead. Ogwumike and Parker were scoreless in the third, when the Sky outscored Los Angeles 19-8.

''Our defensive intensity, we were able to stop them a little bit in the second half,'' Vandersloot said. ''They scored eight points in the third quarter, and that's unheard for a team that skilled and that many offensive threats.''

The Sparks led by 15 in the first half, but the Sky scored the final six points of the second quarter to pull within nine.

''We got up by a lot, and we got a little frazzled,'' Ogwumike said.

Los Angeles won 95-75 and 99-84 in the other games.

''They were extremely hungry to win,'' Sparks coach Brian Agler said. ''We were like that in LA, but not quite like that here.''

TIP-INS

Sparks co-owner Magic Johnson was in attendance. ... The Sparks scored at least 93 points in four of their previous five meetings with Chicago. ... During the regular season, Los Angeles led the WNBA with a 48.7 percent field goal percentage, while the Sky topped the league in scoring at 86.2 points.

STILL OUT

Delle Donne has missed nine straight games. She averaged 21.5 points to share the league scoring title with New York's Tina Charles.

UP NEXT

Game 4 is in Chicago on Tuesday night

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Preview: Sparks (26-8) at Sky (18-16)
Date: October 04, 2016 8:00 PM EDT

Defense was the difference for the Chicago Sky with their season on the line and facing elimination in Game 3 of its WNBA playoff semifinal Sunday against Los Angeles Sparks.

The reward? Chicago earned a 70-66 win and another shot at Los Angeles in Game 4, set for Tuesday night at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Los Angeles still holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series, meaning everything the Sky accomplished on Sunday will be for naught if it can't replicate the effort at least one more time.

Game 5, if necessary, will be played Thursday in Los Angeles.

The Sky held Los Angeles forward Candace Parker, who came into the game averaging 25 points in the first two contests in the series, to just nine points on 3-of-14 shooting from the floor. The Sparks shot just 36.6 percent as a team and just 18.2 percent from three-point range.

Los Angeles took a whopping 33 three-point shots in Game 3 after attempting 41 in the first two games of the series combined. Conversely, Chicago was just 1 of 3 from long-range and took 69 two-point shots.

Parker did corral 15 rebounds, 11 of them on the defensive end, and league MVP Nneka Ogwumike scored a game-high 22 points for Los Angeles.

Chicago got 17 points from Courtney Vandersloot and 13 points and 11 rebounds from rookie center Imani Boyette in Game 3. Vandersloot and Boyette scored Chicago's final 10 points of the game.

The Sky is still playing without star forward Elena Delle Donne, who on Sunday missed her ninth straight game after undergoing right thumb surgery on Sept. 13.

Los Angeles led by 15 points in the first half and by nine at halftime. Chicago outscored the Sparks 19-8 in the third quarter and clinched the game on a pair of free throws in the final seconds by Vandersloot.

The Sparks won Games 1 (95-75) and 2 (99-84) and have captured five of the six meetings between the two teams this season, including twice on Chicago's home floor with Delle Donne in the lineup. Los Angeles has scored at least 93 points in four of those victories.

The winner of this series will play defending champ Minnesota, who swept Phoenix in the other semifinal, in the WNBA finals beginning Oct. 9 in Minneapolis.


WNBA HEAD TO HEAD

Oct 2, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS 66 Under: 136
CHI « 70 Cover: 12
Tools: Recaps

Sep 30, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI 84 Over: 183
LOS « 99 Cover: 3
Tools: Recaps

Sep 28, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI 75 Over: 170
LOS « 95 Cover: 9.5
Tools: Recaps

Jul 13, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS « 77 Cover: 4
CHI 67 Under: 144
Tools: Recaps

Jun 14, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI 85 Over: 183
LOS « 98 Cover: 5
Tools: Recaps

May 24, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS « 93 Cover: 10
CHI 80 Over: 173
Tools: Recaps

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WNBA BEST BETS:

WLT PCT UNITS

ATS Picks 100-91-5 52.36% -50

O/U Picks 92-104-0 46.94% -11200

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LA at CHI 08:00 PM

CHI +7.5

O 166.0

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WLT PCT UNITS

ATS Picks 100-92-5 52.08% -600

O/U Picks 93-104-0 47.21% -10700


SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LA at MIN 03:00 PM

MIN -7.0

U 162.0

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WNBA Finals features best matchup
October 8, 2016

All season long the Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks have been the best two teams in the WNBA.

Thanks to the new playoff format, the Western Conference teams will meet in the WNBA Finals. A year ago these two powerhouses would have played in the conference finals with the winner a huge favorite to win the championship. The Western Conference champion has won the league's title in six of the last seven years.

A Minnesota series win would earn the Lynx four of the last six championships, including two straight. They'd be the first repeat champion since Los Angeles (2001-02). A win by the Sparks would be their first title since then and the first for star Candace Parker.

Here are some things to look for in the WNBA Finals that begin Sunday in Minnesota:

STAR POWER: Each team has a plethora of talent. Los Angeles is led by league MVP Nneka Ogwumike and Parker. Ogwumike had an incredible season, shooting a league-best 66.5 percent from the field, the second-highest mark ever. She averaged a career-best 19.7 points and 9.1 rebounds. Parker, who was left off the U.S. Olympic team, had another great season and is in the finals for the first time.

On the other side, Minnesota has an Olympic quartet of Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus. The group helped lead the U.S. to a sixth consecutive gold medal and has a chance at another WNBA title.

Both Parker and Moore have excelled when playing each other in the postseason. In five games, four won by Minnesota, Moore averaged 24 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Parker had 25.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

GOING FOR FOUR: A championship would give Minnesota four, matching the Lynx with Houston for the most titles all-time in league history. The Comets won the first four championships in league history (1997-2000), but never made it back. The franchise folded after the 2008 season.

TIP-INS: The road team won all three games during the regular season. ... Minnesota's coach Cheryl Reeve won the league's coach of the year award. Los Angeles coach Brian Agler was the AP coach of the year. ... Sylvia Fowles was the consensus defensive player of the year and Jantel Lavender the sixth woman winner.

20 AND COUNTING: The league's 20th season has been stellar with all the metrics trending in the right direction. Attendance was up nearly 5 percent. So were merchandise sales, digital clicks and social media connection.

QUOTABLE: ''We're kind of meeting our match, if you will,'' Reeve said. ''How we get things done is a little different. But both teams can score, both can defend. It's going to be a fight.''

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Preview: Sparks (26-8) at Lynx (28-6)
Date: October 09, 2016 3:00 PM EDT

MINNEAPOLIS - The only thing standing between the Minnesota Lynx and a fourth WNBA championship is the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Lynx are the defending champions and have won the league title three times in the last five years. The core group of players during Minnesota's dominant run -- Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen -- is back for more against a Sparks club that hasn't clinched a title since 2002.

It's an unusual matchup that pits two Western Conference teams against each other in the Finals. That's because of the new format that seeds the eight playoff teams regardless of conference. As a result, the top-seeded Lynx open the Finals on Sunday as the host to the second-seeded Sparks.

The first time the two teams met in the regular season was a battle of unbeatens. The Lynx were 12-0 at the time and the Sparks were 11-0. It marked the first time in professional American sports that two undefeated teams met with at least 10 wins and no losses.

Minnesota won that game by three to improve to a 13-0 en route to a 28-6 regular-season record.

After sweeping Phoenix in three games in the conference semifinals, the Lynx will have waited an entire week between games. Los Angeles last played Oct. 4 after winning Game 4 against Chicago to advance to the Finals.

"It feels like we finished the regular season a long time ago," Whalen told WNBA.com. "I think we've practiced more in the last however many weeks than during the entire rest of the season."

The matchup features plenty of star power on both sides. Moore and Los Angeles' Candace Parker are both former MVPs, and the Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike finished third in the league in points per game during the regular season (19.7).

Minnesota was 2-1 in the three games against Los Angeles this season. That record means little now, though, in this best-of-five series.

"There's history between us over the years and history of this season," Parker told WNBA.com. "I'm careful to call it a rivalry because we haven't held up our end of the bargain; they've beaten us. I think we put ourselves in the position to hopefully make it that now."


WNBA HEAD TO HEAD

Sep 6, 2016 Score ATS Results
MIN « 77 Cover: 4
LOS 74 Under: 151
Tools: Recaps

Jun 24, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS « 94 Cover: 23.5
MIN 76 Over: 170
Tools: Recaps

Jun 21, 2016 Score ATS Results
MIN « 72 Cover: 4
LOS 71 Under: 143
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Tuesday's six-pack

— Gary Kubiak (migraines) will not coach the Broncos’ game in San Diego Thursday night.

— Navy-East Carolina game scheduled for Thursday was moved to November 19 because of flooding in the Greenville area.

— Baltimore Ravens fired OC Marc Trestman, replaced him with Marty Mornhinweg. We live in an inpatient society.

— Sacramento, Philadelphia will be first NBA teams with ads on their game jerseys, starting next season.

— Indians 4, Red Sox 3– Francona’s Tribe sweeps his former employer.

— Wow, Michael Bloomberg is running ads on FS1 supporting a soda tax in California; he would be pretty steamed if he looked in my kitchen.

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Armadillo: Tuesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but…….

13) Titans-Dolphins game had total of only 111 plays Sunday; Eagles-Lions game had 113, Bills-Rams 116. By way of contrast, Texas-Oklahoma game had 168 plays, USC-Colorado 153.

You get lot more action, a lot more plays when you watch a college game.

12) Underdogs are 17-5 against the spread in NFL division games this season.

11) A high school kicker in Bluffton, SC made nine field goals in one game a couple weeks ago, and he even missed two other tries. Kid made 44-47 yard FGs; the other seven were all 36 or less yards. Quite a night for the young man.

10) Right now, there are 576 players in NBA training camps; by October 24, 126 of those guys will get released or sent to the D-League, thats 21.9% of them. Some will go to Europe, some will go get real jobs, most will go to the D-League. Thats part of why the summer league in Las Vegas is so interesting; making an NBA roster is really, really hard to do.

9) Giant-Packer game Sunday night was first NFL game in nine years where a team coming off a Monday night game played a team coming off a bye. Ironically, the Packers were the team off the short week in 2007- they beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead that night. Just an unusual scheduling quirk.

8) Major league umpire Joe West made his big league debut 40 years ago, when he was only 22 years old. He was on the field when Willie McCovey hit his 500th homer and he is still on the field, working the Toronto-Texas series this past week. Making the majors as an umpire at age 22 ain’t an easy thing to do.

7) Through five games, here are the Atlanta Falcons’ yards/pass attempt in each game:
7.7 vs Tampa Bay, 11.1 @ Oakland, 7.0 @ New Orleans, 12.0 vs Carolina, 8.3 @ Denver. Really strong numbers.

Atlanta OC Kyle Shanahan took a lot of grief the last few years, between the RGIII debacle in Washington in 2013 and the Falcons’ collapse last year. Haven’t heard his name mentioned much this season.

6) NFC East teams are 8-4 vs spread in non-divisional game, AFC West teams 9-6, best records of the eight divisions. NFC West teams are 3-6, so far the worst record of any division.

5) New York Knicks have finished last in the NBA in fast break points the last four years in a row. Wonder why that is? Because Carmelo Anthony doesn’t like to run; when the Knicks had a point guard who liked to push the ball (Jeremy Lin), he was sent packing- I wonder why?

Supposedly new Knicks’ coach Jeff Hornacek wants the Knicks to run; I hope the hell they do, would be a lot more fun to watch than Anthony jacking fadeaways at the end of the shot clock.

4) Only eight college hoop teams have made the NCAA tournament each of the last six years: in alphabetical order, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, VCU and Wisconsin.

3) Love watching Kevin Pillar play CF for the Blue Jays; what a great fielder he is!!!!

2) Underrated football analyst who should be on network TV: former Arena League QB Sherdrick Bonner, who was a really good QB for the Arizona Rattlers. Bonner does Mountain West games on Root Sports and is very smart and pleasant. Seriously, he would be in the top five of NFL analysts right now.

1) We hear so much bad news on TV all the time these days; the media is fixated on negativity, everyone is complaining about something, the Presidential election has become such an avalanche of crap that a total jerk like Donald Trump still has a chance to win, just because he is really, really rich.

So it was excellent that a rare touching moment took place in a dugout interview last night during the Texas-Toronto game; Texas 3B coach Tony Beasley has been battling cancer- he has two chemo treatments and an operation on December 5 (his birthday) remaining— he sounds upbeat that he will emerge healthy again. We hope so.

What was touching was this: Beasley had to spend a lot of time at a hospital in Houston, getting treatments. Beasley told Turner’s reporter Matt Winer that the Texas Rangers players took up a collection to pay for Beasley’s hotel bills; his insurance covers the medical expenses, so while he gets treatment, he has no financial worries. As Beasley was telling the story, Elvis Andrus, one of Beasley’s infield pupils, hit a homer for the Rangers. Good stuff.

We can only hope that Beasley’s medical treatments are also a home run.