Heading into Friday\u2019s matchup, the Atlanta Dream (16-11) and Phoenix Mercury (16-10) are neck-and-neck in the standings, with both teams jockeying for playoff position in a crowded WNBA field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Atlanta has won with balance \u2014 ranking top four in both scoring differential and rebounding margin \u2014 while Phoenix leans on offensive firepower, with its potent trio of Satou Sabally, Alyssa Thomas and Sami Whitcomb leading a top-five scoring attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dream will have home-court advantage at Gateway Center Arena, where they\u2019ll look to contain Phoenix\u2019s efficient perimeter game and capitalize on their edge on the glass.<\/p>\n
Here are our picks for tipoff.<\/p>\n
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook<\/a><\/p>\n Spread<\/p>\n Moneyline<\/p>\n Total<\/p>\n Aliah Gray Over 18.5 Points (-108 at FanDuel)<\/a><\/p>\n Gray leads Atlanta in scoring at 18.3 points per game and is also the team\u2019s top three-point shooter at 2.4 makes per contest. Facing a Phoenix team that allows nearly 34% shooting from deep and struggles on the boards, Gray is in a strong spot to exceed her scoring average, especially if this turns into a fast-paced, high-possession game.<\/p>\n The Dream at +114 is an intriguing value play. They\u2019ve been excellent at home and match up well to negate Phoenix\u2019s strengths. The Mercury rely heavily on outside shooting and transition offense, but Atlanta\u2019s rebounding advantage \u2014 second in the league at 36.3 boards per game \u2014 could limit Phoenix\u2019s second chances and fast-break opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Atlanta also boasts a better scoring margin (+4.5 vs. +2.9), more three-point production, and a slightly stronger defense. With Gray leading a balanced attack and Brionna Jones anchoring the interior, Atlanta has the personnel to keep Sabally in check and disrupt Phoenix\u2019s rhythm. If the Dream win the battle of possessions and can shoot even league-average from deep, they\u2019re well positioned to pull off the upset \u2014 or at least prove that the line shouldn’t have made it one.<\/p>\n Pick: Dream (+114 at FanDuel)<\/a><\/p>\n Create a new FanDuel Sportsbook account, and you can get $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 wager<\/a>. Download the FanDuel app and deposit a minimum of $5 to claim your FanDuel Promo Code <\/a>today.<\/p>\n Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.<\/p>\n If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heading into Friday\u2019s matchup, the Atlanta Dream (16-11) and Phoenix Mercury (16-10) are neck-and-neck in the standings, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-52582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}