The pick — Chicago Sky +5.5 vs. Indiana Fever (-110, Caesars)
There’s no better time to fade a hot team than right after people start talking about how hot it is.
Take the Indiana Fever.
Since returning from the Olympic break, Caitlin Clark and company have been one of the WNBA’s strongest teams, posting the third-best net rating at +6.7 and winning four of their last five games. Indiana has taken down giants like the Minnesota Lynx and Connecticut Sun and seems to be flying as high as it has all season. The Fever are the talk of the WNBA, and Twitter couldn’t be more excited to see Clark and the team be successful.
So let’s … fade them.
Unlike Indiana, the Sky appear to be allergic to success. Chicago can’t score and has only won one of its last six contests. The only “win” the team has celebrated in the last couple of weeks has been the introduction of a new mascot. Big yikes.
Let’s put all those Fever-Sky factors together in a pot and call the ensuing stew “Fade the Noise.”
There’s no better time to bet on Chicago at a number like the one above at home. Typically, games between the teams have spreads below three. Plus, this will be Indy’s third game in five days, a stretch that includes two road contests with a home date squeezed in between. That’s a lot of travel in a week.
Even though the Sky have been losing, they’ve been able to sleep in their own beds. Friday’s game will be their third straight at Wintrust Arena.
In Wednesday’s 84-80 victory against the Sun, Indiana shot an astounding 43.3% from downtown, hitting a crazy 13 three-pointers. There’s likely to be some regression on that end.
In Wednesday’s 74-70 loss to the Washington Mystics, the Sky committed a vomit-inducing 23 turnovers. More likely than not, the turnover situation will improve for Chicago on Friday.
With those factors in mind, I’ll happily take the 5 1/2 points and hope math doesn’t let me down.
WNBA season record: 10-9, +0.2 units
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