Chicago Sky at Atlanta Dream (-5.5, 163)
Any bettors who have been sleeping on the Dream need to wake up and smell the victories.
Atlanta won its franchise-record fourth-straight game on Thursday with a 92-84 win in San Antonio. The Dream won the game because of a balanced offensive effort that saw Chamique Holdsclaw (21 points), Iziane Castro Marques (17), Sancho Lyttle (13), rookie Angel McCoughtry (11) and Michelle Snow each score in double figures.
"We're definitely establishing our identity," Holdsclaw told the Associated Press. “We've got a flow going right now. We're just trying to stick to it."
Meantime, Chicago has beaten the Dream twice this season, but enters the game losers of three of its past five and is a wretched 2-9 on the road.
Pick: Dream
Indiana Fever at Phoenix Mercury (-4, 175.5)
It’s no surprise that Penny Taylor’s return to Phoenix coincides with the team’s two-game win streak.
Taylor, an All-Star in 2007 with Phoenix when it won the title, re-signed with the Mercury this month and has made an immediate impact. In her first game back against the Lynx, she was eased into the lineup. She had two points, an assist and a rebound in a little under 10 minutes of action in the 13-point win.
Then, in Phoenix’s 11-point overtime win against Seattle, Taylor dropped 18 points and four assists off the bench.
The Fever have won four straight, but are just 2-2 against the Western Conference. They will struggle to matchup with Taylor off the pine.
Pick: Mercury
