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The Phoenix Mercury take on the Atlanta Dream. Our WNBA odds series has our Mercury Dream prediction, odds and pick. Find out how to watch Mercury Dream.
The Olympic break in the middle of the WNBA season created a unique situation: 12 teams had their seasons completely interrupted for four weeks and then returned to action. Four weeks is a lot of time for injured or struggling players to rest, recover, heal, and start fresh. Teams hit by injuries could achieve a reset. Were any struggling teams going to emerge as noticeably different squads after the break? Conversely, would successful first-half teams suddenly hit the skids after the break, in part because some of their first-half wins were against teams which weren't whole but now — four weeks later — have gotten healthy and have thereby changed their identities and increased their overall capabilities?
We have a very clear answer on the question of a struggling team becoming a lot better out of the break: The Atlanta Dream look miles better than they did in July. Jordin Canada was injured for a portion of the first half of the season. Atlanta really missed her well-rounded contributions at both ends of the floor. Canada is a capable scorer, an active defender, and an involved teammate who can do a little bit of everything. That's precisely what she did in the first two games for the Dream after the Olympic break. Canada, in wins over the Seattle Storm last Friday and over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, collected a combined 29 points, 14 assists, 9 steals, and 8 rebounds. With fresh legs and renewed determination, Canada has enabled the Dream to play stifling defense and own fourth quarters against two of the top five teams in the WNBA in terms of overall win-loss record. Atlanta didn't beat bottom-rung teams coming out of the break; it defeated quality teams expected to contend for a spot in the WNBA Finals this fall. The Dream need to be taken seriously, and they need to be reevaluated compared to their feeble and previous iteration in the first half of the season.
Here are the Mercury-Dream WNBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
WNBA Odds: Mercury-Dream Odds
Phoenix Mercury: -1.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -128
Atlanta Dream: +1.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +104
Over: 163.5 (-110)
Under: 163.5 (-110)
How To Watch Mercury vs Dream
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT
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TV: Mercury Live, Peachtree TV, WNBA League Pass
*Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Mercury Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Mercury got shredded by Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever last Friday, but in their other two games after the Olympic break, the Mercury completely dominated the Chicago Sky in a pair of blowout wins. Which version of Phoenix is the true one — the one that lost to the Fever or hammered the Sky twice? If you think that Caitlin Clark poses unique problems to an opponent — which is logical — you would say that since Clark doesn't play for the Dream, the Mercury should be able to handle Atlanta's offense and ultimately win the game. The spread is microscopic, so a point-spread pick and a moneyline pick are not very far from each other in terms of the price.
Why The Dream Can Cover The Spread/Win
We have said it very plainly: This Atlanta team bears little if any resemblance to the team which was well below average before the Olympic break. The new Dream look like a good team, and if they could beat Seattle and Connecticut, they should definitely beat the sixth-place Mercury, a worse team than the Storm and Sun.
Final Mercury-Dream Prediction & Pick
Our lean is to the Dream, but the fluctuations of both sides make this a bad game to bet on. Pass.
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Final Mercury-Dream Prediction & Pick: Dream moneyline
