The Bum's 2017 WNBA Picks-Trends-News !

[StarDust Bum]

SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY JULY 28, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
7:00 PM Connecticut Sun Washington Mystics Verizon Center
7:00 PM New York Liberty Indiana Fever Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7:30 PM Minnesota Lynx Atlanta Dream McCamish Pavilion
8:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks San Antonio Stars AT&T Center
8:30 PM Phoenix Mercury Chicago Sky Allstate Arena
10:00 PM Dallas Wings Seattle Storm KeyArena

SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY JULY 30, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
3:00 PM Indiana Fever Connecticut Sun Mohegan Sun Arena
3:00 PM Washington Mystics Atlanta Dream McCamish Pavilion
5:00 PM Dallas Wings Los Angeles Sparks Staples Center
6:00 PM New York Liberty Chicago Sky Allstate Arena
6:00 PM San Antonio Stars Phoenix Mercury Talking Stick Resort Arena
7:00 PM Seattle Storm Minnesota Lynx Target Center

SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 1, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
8:00 PM New York Liberty San Antonio Stars AT&T Center

Updated Wed Jul 26 1:04 AM EDT

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LEAGUE STANDINGS

Rank Team W L PCT GB CONF HOME ROAD L-10 STREAK

#1 Minnesota Lynx17 2 0.895 - 10-0 9-1 8-1 8-2 W 4

#2 Los Angeles Sparks15 6 0.714 3 6-3 10-1 5-5 7-3 W 1

#3 Connecticut Sun13 9 0.591 5.5 7-4 6-3 7-6 7-3 W 1

#4 Washington Mystics13 9 0.591 5.5 9-2 8-2 5-7 6-4 W 2

#5 Phoenix Mercury11 10 0.524 7 4-6 6-6 5-4 5-5 L 4

#6 New York Liberty10 10 0.500 7.5 3-5 7-4 3-6 4-6 L 1

#7 Dallas Wings11 12 0.478 8 5-6 7-5 4-7 6-4 W 1

#8 Atlanta Dream10 11 0.476 8 4-7 7-3 3-8 5-5 W 1

#9 Seattle Storm9 12 0.429 9 4-4 7-6 2-6 3-7 L 2

#10 Indiana Fever8 14 0.364 10.5 4-4 5-5 3-9 2-8 L 2

#11 Chicago Sky8 14 0.364 10.5 3-8 2-7 6-7 5-5 L 1

#12 San Antonio Stars3 19 0.136 15.5 0-10 2-9 1-10 3-7 L 1

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA July Record:

Date.................... W-L-T................... % ...................Units Record

07/25/2017............7-5-0.............58.33%.......................+7.50
07/20/2017............1-3-0.............25.00%.......................-11.50
07/19/2017............4-4-0.............50.00%.........................-2.00
07/18/2017............0-2-0...............0.00%.......................-11.00
07/17/2017............1-1-0.............50.00%.........................-0.50
07/16/2017............7-0-1...........100.00%......................+35.00
07/15/2017............2-0-0............100.00%.....................+10.00
07/14/2017............0-6-0................0.00%......................-33.00
07/13/2017............0-2-0................0.00%......................-11.00
07/12/2017............0-2-0................0.00%......................-11.00
07/09/2017............1-3-0...............25.00%.....................-11.50
07/08/2017............4-2-0...............66.67%......................+9.00
07/07/2017............2-2-0...............50.00%.......................-0.20
07/06/2017............0-4-0.................0.00%.....................-22.00
07/05/2017........... 5-1-0 ...............83.33%................... +19.50
07/02/2017........... 2-2-0............... 50.00% ......................-0.20
07/01/2017........... 0-4-0................. 0.00%.................... -22.00

Totals:...............36 - 44 - 1...........45.00%.......................- 53.90

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

Odds on random NFL games this season:

— Week 2: Eagles @ Chiefs (-4.5)

— Week 3: Cowboys (-3) @ Cardinals

— Week 4: Raiders @ Broncos (-1)

— Week 5: Packers @ Cowboys (-3)

— Week 6: Steelers @ Chiefs (-1.5)

— Week 7: Seahawks (-2.5) @ Giants


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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff on a summer day……..

13) Baltimore Ravens signed QB David Olsen Thursday; he was a backup at both Stanford/Clemson, and he played for the Kansas City Phantoms in an indoor football league I’ve never heard of. This should make the pro-Kaepernick people really happy.

Joe Flacco is out 3-6 weeks with a bad back. Ryan Mallett is the backup QB, and a kid from West Texas State is the #3 QB. Baltimore could use a quality backup QB.

Maybe Olsen is the next Kurt Warner. You never know.

12) Washington Nationals hit four homers in a row Thursday, and added a 5th homer in that same inning. Last time that happened was 2006, when the Brewers did it.

11) Robert Griffin III tried out for the backup QB-needy Chargers this week. He did so well that the Bolts traded for Cardale Jones right after his tryout. Oy.

10) If you’re on Twitter, a good follow: @LVcabchronicles

This guy is a Vegas cab driver from Iowa who writes about his experience as a driver. He is very smart with a good sense of humor— he needs to write a screenplay about his experiences.

9) While teenagers were climbing all over themselves couple of nights ago to get a glimpse of Lonzo Ball at an AAU tournament here in Las Vegas, a college coach got up and walked thru the crowd to a concession stand. None of the kids stopped him, talked to him or even seemed to notice him.

Weird thing; Patrick Ewing used to be really famous. Now he is just the Georgetown coach.

8) Lon Kruger, Chris Mack, Roy Williams, Bill Self were all in the Cashman Center Wednesday night, finishing up their summer recruiting efforts. With 800,000 people watching the late game Wednesday on the Interweb, don’t be surprised if the adidas tourney is on ESPN next summer.

7) There are other big tournaments here in Las Vegas: the Fab 48 at Bishop Gorman, the Bigfoot Las Vegas Classic and another tournament whose name I forget. Good place to come and watch some good basketball in an air-conditioned gym.

6) If you’re curious how the Big Ballers made out Thursday, they won another defensive struggle 111-102. Teams double team LaMelo Ball and he finds the open man— his teammates were 13-28 on the arc in the win. Play Hard, Play Smart (the opponent) was 24-42 on the foul line.

5) Baseball doings:
— Mets traded 1B/DH Lucas Duda to Tampa Bay
— White Sox traded lefty reliever Dan Jennings to Tampa Bay
— Phillies traded reliever Pat Neshek to Colorado.
— White Sox put OF Avisail Garcia (hand) on the DL.

4) When the White Sox beat the Cubs Monday, Anthony Swarzak got the save; if I was a Sox fan, I would’ve been optimistic that Swarzak could fill the shoes left empty when David Robertson was dealt to New York.

But within 36 hours, Swarzak had been traded to Milwaukee— this is depressing for the team. Every time a player does well, he gets traded. How many minor league prospects do you need?

3) Please God in heaven, no digital umpires calling balls/strikes. Do you think I would trust that major league baseball wouldn’t fix the machines to favor the big money teams?

2) Cincinnati Reds are 6-20 vs lefty pitchers this year. No bueno.

1) Adrian Beltre got tossed out of the game Wednesday because he was standing too far behind the plate when he was on deck. The umpire told him to get closer to the on-deck circle, so Beltre picked the actual circle up and moved it to where he had been standing. The umpire was not amused and threw Beltre out of the game.

On YES Network Thursday, former big league OF Paul O’Neill went off on the umpire, because O’Neill can be a jerk. The umpire was doing his job, thats all.

This happened in 1999 in a Wichita State-Evansville college game. Same situation, but instead of the pitcher asking the ump to move the on-deck hitter, he threw a warm-up pitch close to the on-deck hitter’s head to back him away from the plate. He threw the ball a little too close.

He drilled the on-deck hitter, who was Evansville’s star, broke a broke near his eye and ruined his shot at a pro career. To this day, the player has a blind spot in his left eye, poor peripheral vision and almost no depth perception. He has had surgery on the eye three times and figures to undergo more procedures periodically throughout the rest of his life.

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, July 28


Dallas @ Seattle

Game 623-624
July 28, 2017 @ 10:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Dallas
104.234
Seattle
112.689
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Seattle
by 8 1/2
159
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Seattle
by 5 1/2
170
Dunkel Pick:
Seattle
(-5 1/2); Under

Phoenix @ Chicago

Game 621-622
July 28, 2017 @ 8:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Phoenix
107.775
Chicago
111.475
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Chicago
by 3 1/2
170
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Chicago
by 5 1/2
166
Dunkel Pick:
Phoenix
(+5 1/2); Over

Los Angeles @ San Antonio

Game 619-620
July 28, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Los Angeles
114.135
San Antonio
107.655
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Los Angeles
by 6 1/2
159
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Los Angeles
by 11 1/2
155
Dunkel Pick:
San Antonio
(+11 1/2); Over

Minnesota @ Atlanta

Game 617-618
July 28, 2017 @ 7:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Minnesota
124.254
Atlanta
108.996
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 15 1/2
162
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Minnesota
by 8
167
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota
(-8); Under

Connecticut @ Washington

Game 615-616
July 28, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Connecticut
112.458
Washington
115.611
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Washington
by 3
160
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Washington
Pick
164 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Washington
Under

New York @ Indiana

Game 613-614
July 28, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
New York
113.263
Indiana
104.778
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
New York
by 8 1/2
159
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
New York
by 5
154
Dunkel Pick:
New York
(-5); Over

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA

Friday, July 28

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
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7:00 PM
NEW YORK vs. INDIANA
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of New York's last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New York's last 5 games on the road
Indiana is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing New York
Indiana is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against New York

7:00 PM
CONNECTICUT vs. WASHINGTON
Connecticut is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Connecticut's last 9 games on the road
Washington is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 6 games

7:30 PM
MINNESOTA vs. ATLANTA
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
Minnesota is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games on the road
Atlanta is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing at home against Minnesota

8:00 PM
LOS ANGELES vs. SAN ANTONIO
Los Angeles is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Antonio
Los Angeles is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against San Antonio
San Antonio is 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games at home
San Antonio is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games when playing at home against Los Angeles

8:30 PM
PHOENIX vs. CHICAGO
Phoenix is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
Phoenix is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Chicago is 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games at home
Chicago is 4-9 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Phoenix

10:00 PM
DALLAS vs. SEATTLE
Dallas is 6-14 ATS in its last 20 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 6 games when playing on the road against Seattle
Seattle is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games when playing at home against Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 6 games when playing at home against Dallas

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Liberty (10-10) at Fever (8-14)
Date: July 28, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

The New York Liberty will try to climb back above .500 when they visit the Indiana Fever on Friday night in Indianapolis.

New York (10-10) won two of its past three games but is coming off a one-point loss on the road to the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday night. The contest against Indiana marks the Liberty's second game of a grueling five-game road trip that also features stops in Chicago, San Antonio and Los Angeles.

As the Liberty look to take another step forward in their pursuit of a playoff berth, Indiana (8-14) is hoping to regain its home-court advantage. The Fever lost four games in a row on their home court, with their last victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse coming June 15 against the Atlanta Dream.

New York coach Bill Laimbeer likes what he has seen from his players heading into their matchup against the Fever. He recently shuffled the lineup by moving Epiphanny Prince from point guard to shooting guard and placing Bria Hartley in the starting lineup at the point.

Center Tina Charles leads the Liberty with 20.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Prince is averaging 12.6 points per game to go along with a team-best 3.5 assists per contest.

"The structure that we have right now is good for us," Laimbeer told the team's official website. "We're pushing the pace better. We're getting easier baskets. We have good role definition."

Forward Candice Dupree leads Indiana with an average of 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Dupree was the Fever's lone representative in the All-Star Game last weekend.

Guards Erica Wheeler (11.1 points) and Tiffany Mitchell (10.5 points) also are averaging in double-digit scoring for the Fever. Guard Briann January is on the cusp of double digits with 9.9 points per game.

The Fever have lost seven of their past eight games to slip far out of the playoff race. However, players continue to battle hard during a difficult season that includes crowded flights on commercial airlines.

"I give our players a lot of credit, because I don't know how they do it," Fever president and general manager Kelly Krauskopf told the Indianapolis Star. "We take very early flights, depart at 6 or 7 a.m., to go between cities to play another game after we just played the night before. They're such troupers and good sports in terms of trying to find the time to get their rest and get enough sleep."

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Sun (13-9) at Mystics (13-9)
Date: July 28, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

Elena Delle Donne's return from an ankle injury helped put the Washington Mystics back on the winning path.

She will need help against the Connecticut Sun on Friday in a battle of Eastern Conference contenders at the Verizon Center in Washington.

Delle Donne recorded 29 points and 10 rebounds in Washington's 85-76 victory at San Antonio on Tuesday. The Mystics (13-9) outscored the Stars 25-9 in the first quarter and led by as many as 20 points.

"It's always tough after the All-Star break, you only get one practice," Delle Donne said. "To be on the road, it's difficult to get wins, so I am glad we came out with this one. I think there are things we can clean up, especially defensively, but still very happy with the focus we came out with."

Delle Donne missed two games and last week's All-Star Game but showed no signs of rust in her return.

"She was terrific from the start," Mystics coach Mike Thibault said. "She has had 10 straight days of treatments. ... Her legs came back a little bit. She is sore, but she showed great concentration on her shots. I thought she could have gotten to the free-throw line a few more times, but overall she did a good job."

Delle Donne, who averages 19.3 points per game, hopes to get support from Tayler Hill (13.9 points), Emma Meesseman (11.7) and Kristi Toliver (10.6) -- Washington's other double-figure scorers.

The Sun (13-9) dominated the Chicago Sky 93-72 on Tuesday. Alyssa Thomas recorded 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Jonquel Jones had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and ex-Mystic Jasmine Thomas scored 17.

Connecticut and Washington split two meetings this season with each winning at home. The Sun took the most recent matchup 96-92 on July 8 as Jones had 22 points and nine rebounds.

"You know I'm so proud of the team tonight," Sun coach Curt Miller said after the win earlier this month.

Connecticut rallied from 22 points down with 5:04 left in the third quarter.

"That's a huge win, and in the manner that it happened is pretty incredible," Miller said. "Some are saying that this is the largest comeback in franchise history, so tremendous second half. The thing that I'm most pleased about is that they stuck together, they didn't panic, we didn't have to change a lot of basketball X's or O's while we made subtle adjustments."

The leading scorers for the Sun are Jones (15.6 points per game), Jasmine Thomas (14.7), Alyssa Thomas (13.9) and Courtney Williams (12.4)


WNB HEAD TO HEAD

Jul 8, 2017 Score ATS Results
WAS 92 Over: 188
CONN « 96 Cover: 1
Tools: Recaps

May 31, 2017 Score ATS Results
CONN 76 Cover: 5.5
WAS « 78 Under: 154
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Lynx (17-2) at Dream (10-11)
Date: July 28, 2017 7:30 PM EDT

The Atlanta Dream is coming off the type of win -- a back-and-forth, come-from-behind overtime victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday -- that can spark a late-season surge.

Following it up with an upset of the powerful Minnesota Lynx in Atlanta on Friday would certainly get the league's attention.

The Lynx own the best record in the WNBA at 17-2 and have won four straight games. Guard Lindsay Whalen hit a double-clutch, turnaround jumper to help Minnesota pull out a 76-75 win over the New York Liberty on Tuesday.

"We were fortunate to win the game," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve told reporters after the hard-fought victory.

The Dream (10-11) also got clutch play from their backcourt in the thrilling win over Phoenix. Atlanta trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half before rookie guard Brittany Sykes fueled a second-half rally.

Sykes finished with 20 points, including a layup with two seconds left to force overtime.

"She's a scorer; we utilized her ability to get to the basket," Dream coach Michael Cooper said. "I don't look at her as the rookie anymore. I look at her like a very good veteran. She's a confident young lady who could easily average between 20 and 25 points."

It was the third straight 20-point performance for Sykes, who is averaging 18.2 points since joining the starting lineup June 30.

Veteran point guard Layshia Clarendon also had a big game for the Dream, finishing with 15 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds. She was initially credited with 11 assists, which would have made her the sixth player in WNBA history to record a triple-double. However, after a league review, two of Clarendon's assists were rescinded due to a stat-keeper error.

While Cooper has praised his backcourt, he has been most pleased with the team's defense.

"One thing we're good at this year, as good as any team since I've been with the Dream, is our defense from sideline to sideline," Cooper said. "We're able to scramble, get to shooters, and get out there and contest shots."

The high-scoring Lynx, led by Whalen and Maya Moore, will test that defense. Minnesota has beaten the Dream six straight times and in nine out of the last 10 meetings overall.

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Sparks (15-6) at Stars (3-19)
Date: July 28, 2017 8:00 PM EDT

Despite a roster with three of the best players in the WNBA and wearing the crown as defending league champions, the Los Angeles Sparks have not been nearly as dominating this season as last, mostly due to their struggle to close out close games.

That hasn't stopped Los Angeles from forging the second-best record in the league, a mark on which it will look to improve when it squares off against the hapless San Antonio Stars on Friday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The Sparks head to the Alamo City on the heels of a 68-60 home win over Seattle on Tuesday in which Candace Parker scored 17 points -- 14 of them in the first half -- and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Los Angeles (15-6), which finished off a four-game homestand, put away a late Seattle charge as Nneka Ogwumike scored eight of her 13 points in the final 7:58 of the game and took 10 rebounds. Los Angeles also got 14 points from Jantel Lavender and 11 off the bench from Riquna Williams.

Los Angeles' bench outscored Seattle's reserves 25-2 in the game and 47-2 over the past two meeting between the two teams.

"We played very well defensively (in the win over Seattle)," Sparks coach Brian Agler said. "The other thing is that we got 13 offensive rebounds, which is a high for us this year, which gave us opportunities. I like that and the direction we're moving, so we'll see how it plays out."

San Antonio (3-19) is still the only team in the WNBA without consecutive victories this season and has gone since July 2015 (when they defeated Indiana and Atlanta in consecutive home games) without back-to-back wins.

The Stars' most recent game was also Tuesday, when they crawled out of the gate and fell behind by as many as 19 points before making a late-game surge that was not nearly enough in an 85-76 loss at home to the Washington Mystics.

Any chance San Antonio had against the Mystics was doomed early on when it scored just nine points -- a season low for any quarter this season -- in the opening period. The Stars had a 3 1/2-minute scoreless stretch in the period and then failed to score for the final 2:09 of the quarter.

"In the second, third and fourth quarters, we were very aggressive -- that was a team that I could recognize," Stars coach Vickie Johnson said. "But the first quarter was very bad for us."

Kelsey Plum hit for 15 points for the Stars (3-19), the third straight game the league's top draft pick has scored in double figures. Dearica Hamby also scored 15 points, Kayla McBride hit for 12 points and Alex Montgomery grabbed 11 rebounds for San Antonio.

"That's what I was brought here to do," Plum said. "To try to create, to be aggressive, to score and to look for my teammates -- especially when we're down and there's nothing to lose. You have to get in the game and bring something, so I was trying to bring a spark."

The two teams played in Los Angeles on June 15 with the Sparks garnering an 80-75 win that allowed them to extend their winning streak against San Antonio to nine games. Parker (20 points), Chelsea Gray (19) and Ogwumike (16) combined for 55 points in that victory while Moriah Jefferson led San Antonio with 24 points off the bench.

The Stars have not defeated Los Angeles since July, 8, 2015, but have a 19-19 overall home record against the Sparks.

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Mercury (11-10) at Sky (8-14)
Date: July 28, 2017 8:30 PM EDT

The improving Chicago Sky hope to avoid a three-game series sweep when they host the slumping Phoenix Mercury on Friday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

After going 3-12 over their first 15 games, the Sky are now 5-2 in their past seven despite an 83-72 loss at Connecticut on Tuesday.

"We were not playing clean defense, we fouled too much, gave up offensive rebounds and we just didn't bring the defensive intensity," Sky guard Allie Quigley said.

Chicago (8-14) climbed to within one point in the third quarter but couldn't overtake Connecticut, which then went on to a 22-7 run to secure the win.

Quigley tops the Sky and is 10th in WNBA scoring at 16.8 points per a game. Courtney Vandersloot leads the league in assists (7.1 per game), while Jessica Breland is tops on the team in rebounds, averaging six per game.

Phoenix (11-10) has lost four straight and sits fifth in the WNBA. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

The Mercury are coming off a 99-91 overtime loss at Atlanta and are still without league scoring leader Brittney Griner, who averaged 27.5 points against Chicago in two previous meetings. The Mercury beat the Sky 99-91 on June 2 and 86-78 on June 16.

Griner bruised a bone in her left knee and sprained a right ankle in mid-July. She could be out up to four weeks.

"No one can replace Brittney Griner," Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello said following the loss to the Dream. "We need all the post players to step up, no one in particular. We need the guards to step up because that's 22 points that we're missing. It's a team effort. All players have to step up to fill that hole."

Diana Taurasi, the WNBA's all-time scoring leader, has picked up the some of the slack in Griner's absence, producing a 32.5-point average in the past four games.

The Sky and Mercury are 8-8 in their past 16 meetings, and the Sky hold a 5-4 edge at Allstate Arena.

Chicago's days playing at the suburban arena are now numbered after the team announced this week that it would move back to Chicago with a five-year deal to play at Wintrust Arena near the McCormick Place exposition center starting in 2018.

The Sky played four seasons at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion before moving to Allstate Arena in 2010.

Chicago continues a short homestand on Sunday, hosting the New York Liberty. Phoenix plays host to the San Antonio Stars on Sunday.

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Wings (11-12) at Storm (9-12)
Date: July 28, 2017 10:00 PM EDT

The Seattle Storm hope to set the tone before heading out on a difficult stretch of road games when the Dallas Wings visit Seattle's KeyArena on Friday for a showdown between two teams in need of strong finishes to stay in the playoff hunt.

The Storm (9-12) sit in ninth place in the league standings after suffering a 68-60 road loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs. The regular season ends the first week of September.

After Friday's game against the Wings, Seattle's next four contests are on the road, including stops at first-place Minnesota and third-place Connecticut.

"There's always a sense of urgency in the WNBA because the season is so condensed," forward Alysha Clark told the Seattle Times early in the week. "We had a lot of games in this first half that were close and we didn't finish them for whatever reasons. Coming back after the break, a focus for us is finishing games."

The Wings are in seventh place in the league standings and are coming off an 84-82 win over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday. Dallas guard Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 21 points, her sixth straight 20-plus-point performance.

Diggins-Smith was held to just 13 points in an 89-69 blowout loss to the Storm on July 1 in Dallas. The Wings made just 1 of 17 3-point attempts and had no answer for Seattle forward Breanna Stewart, who poured in 30 points. The Storm have won the last two meetings with the Wings.

The Wings received a boost from the return of second-year guard Aerial Powers, who missed the first 22 games of the season with ankle injuries. Powers scored nine points in 18 minutes of action in Dallas' win over the Fever.

"It was like Christmas," Powers told the Dallas Morning News after the game. "When I stepped out there I was a little nervous and finally like, 'Yes. I'm back here. I'm on the court.'"

Dallas is 4-7 on the road this season, but did win at Seattle last July.

The teams will face each other again on Aug. 4 in Dallas.

[StarDust Bum]

FRIDAY, JULY 28

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

CONN at WAS 07:00 PM

CONN +2.5

O 168.0

NY at IND 07:00 PM

IND +6.0

U 159.0

MIN at ATL 07:30 PM

ATL +7.5

O 167.0

LA at SA 08:00 PM

SA +11.5

U 155.0

PHO at CHI 08:30 PM

PHO +5.0

O 167.0

DAL at SEA 10:00 PM

SEA -6.0

U 170.5

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA Capsules
July 28, 2017

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Candace Parker had 11 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists to become the sixth WNBA player with a triple-double, and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the San Antonio Stars 85-73 on Friday night.

This week, Atlanta's Layshia Clarendon had a triple-double rescinded after two of her assists were later taken away in a league review. Parker is the first to accomplish the feat since Temeka Johnson on July 24, 2014.

Odyssey Sims led Los Angeles (16-6) with a season-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Jantel Lavender added 18 points.

Lavender made a 3-pointer on two straight possessions to extend Los Angeles' lead to 66-54 early in the fourth quarter. San Antonio pulled to 75-70 with 4:05 to go but the Stars went scoreless for three-plus minutes and trailed 85-70.

Kayla McBride scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half for San Antonio (3-20).

The Stars closed the first half on a 12-0 run to pull to 39-35.

LYNX 90, DREAM 80

ATLANTA (AP) - Sylvia Fowles had 29 points and eight rebounds in Minnesota's victory over Atlanta.

Fowles was 11 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 10 at the line.

Maya Moore added 17 points for Minnesota (18-2), and Seimone Augustus had 14 points and 10 assists for her second career double-double. The Lynx had 30 assists on 37 field goals, and shot 56 percent.

Tiffany Hayes scored 25 points for Atlanta (10-12). Brittney Sykes added 13 points and Sancho Lyttle became the leading rebounder in Dream history.

STORM 109, WINGS 93

SEATTLE (AP) - Jewell Loyd tied a season high with 27 points, Breanna Stewart had 20 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in Seattle's victory over Dallas.

Stewart topped 500 career rebounds to set a WNBA record for fewest games to reach that mark and also score 1,000 points at 55.

Crystal Langhorne dded 16 points, Sue Bird had 15, and Alysha Clark 14 for Seattle (10-12). The Storm tied a franchise record with 29 assists. Skylar Diggins-Smith had 18 points for Dallas (11-13).

LIBERTY 85, FEVER 84

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Tina Charles scored 25 points, Sugar Rodgers made two free throws with 11.2 seconds left and New York beat Indiana.

Bria Hartley added 17 points for New York (11-10) and Shavonte Zellous had 11.

Achonwa led Indiana (8-15) with 19 points. Dupree and Tiffany Mitchell each had 14.

MERCURY 86, SKY 80

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Camille Little scored 19 points, Cayla George had career highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Phoenix beat Chicago.

Monique Currie scored 10 of her 18 points at the free throw line for Phoenix (12-10).

Stefanie Dolson scored a career-high 29 points for Chicago (8-15).

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA July Record:

Date.................... W-L-T................... % ...................Units Record

07/28/2017............4-6-0.............40.00%......................-13.00
07/25/2017............7-5-0.............58.33%.......................+7.50
07/20/2017............1-3-0.............25.00%.......................-11.50
07/19/2017............4-4-0.............50.00%.........................-2.00
07/18/2017............0-2-0...............0.00%.......................-11.00
07/17/2017............1-1-0.............50.00%.........................-0.50
07/16/2017............7-0-1...........100.00%......................+35.00
07/15/2017............2-0-0............100.00%.....................+10.00
07/14/2017............0-6-0................0.00%......................-33.00
07/13/2017............0-2-0................0.00%......................-11.00
07/12/2017............0-2-0................0.00%......................-11.00
07/09/2017............1-3-0...............25.00%.....................-11.50
07/08/2017............4-2-0...............66.67%......................+9.00
07/07/2017............2-2-0...............50.00%.......................-0.20
07/06/2017............0-4-0.................0.00%.....................-22.00
07/05/2017........... 5-1-0 ...............83.33%................... +19.50
07/02/2017........... 2-2-0............... 50.00% ......................-0.20
07/01/2017........... 0-4-0................. 0.00%.................... -22.00

Totals:...............40 - 50 - 1...........44.44%.......................- 64.90

[StarDust Bum]

Sun aim to continue scorching stretch vs. Fever

Hoping to continue their strong play at home, the Connecticut Sun host the Indiana Fever on Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

After losing their first two home games at the casino, part of a dismal start that has been more than reversed, the Sun have won six of their last seven on their home floor.

The Eastern Conference-leading Sun, who are third in the overall WNBA standings, came out of the All-Star break with a home win over the Chicago Sky. They then had their Friday night game at Washington postponed because of a leaky roof.

Connecticut is 12-4 after a 1-5 start.

The Sun set season highs of 27 assists and 14 steals in the 93-72 victory over Chicago.

"It's an important win for us," Sun coach Curt Miller said. "Trying to keep momentum that we built before the All-Star break. I don't think at times we played Sun basketball. I think it was a pretty ugly game in stretches, both ways.

"Proud of the intensity, the fight that we had. We competed in the second half and showed more of Sun basketball."

The Sun and Fever split two games in Indiana. Connecticut won on July 1 to start a streak of eight losses in the last nine games for the Fever, including the last three.

The Fever suffered a painful 85-84 loss to the New York Liberty in their last game.

Very painful.

"Yet again, we give ourselves an opportunity to win a basketball game," Fever head coach Pokey Chatman said. "But we had poor execution down the stretch and on the final play. That's the one everyone remembers, but we had a 15-point lead that evaporated."

Natalie Achonwa scored a career-high 19 points and also grabbed seven rebounds in another tough loss for her team, a defeat that dropped the Fever to 1-8 in July.

"It's frustrating to have two games back-to-back where we could have won and should have won," Achonwa said. "We had 15-point leads and couldn't maintain it because we don't play defense. It's going to be frustrating until we get a win, until we can play 40 minutes of basketball."

At 8-15, the Fever are on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, tied for 10th place, 2 1/2 games out of the eighth and final postseason spot.

Jonquel Jones, the league's leading rebounder, leads the Sun in scoring (15.6) and rebounding (11.2).

Candace Dupree tops Indiana in both scoring (13.8) and rebounding (5.3).