Seven of the WNBA's eight playoff spots have been clinched, and the last will be tonight should be Dallas Wings beat the visiting Portland Fire, who need a victory and then a miracle to get in the postseason. It's an 8 p.m. tip from College Park Center and nationally televised on NBA TV. Spend $5+ and get $200 in bonus bets instantly at DraftKings here:
Portland blew an 11-point lead Sunday in a 105-100 home loss to Washington to be on the verge of playoff elimination despite 21 points from Megan DiLeo. She was 7-for-8 from the floor and now has a team-record 179 field goals made, passing Sophia Witherspoon (175 in 2000) for the mark. The veteran DiLeo is having a fine year, averaging 13.3 points per game, double her previous career high, and shooting 53.9% from the field, which is top 10 in the league.
Other than DiLeo, Portland doesn't have much in the frontcourt, and that showed as it attempted only 15 free throws vs. Washington compared to 44 for the Mystics. The Mystics also won the rebounding battle 48-30. Each of Portland's last five games have been decided by five points or fewer, with the Fire going 2-3. They are 10-8 overall in clutch games this season (with the margin five points or fewer in the final five minutes).
Definitely keep an eye on the free-throw discrepancy, as that has been a glaring problem for the Fire. We told you the Mystics attempted 29 more free throws than Portland did. The previous game, the Fire had a 33-17 deficit in attempts from the charity stripe.
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Fire vs. Wings same-game parlay
- Dallas money line
- Alt Under 184.5
- Jessica Shepard 8+ rebounds
FanDuel SGP price: +124 (subject to change)
Dallas got horrible news last week that rookie No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd would miss the rest of the season and have right knee surgery. Fudd averaged 13.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.7 steals (fifth in the league) and 0.8 blocks while leading the club with a plus-13.1 net rating.
While the Wings, who haven't been to the playoffs since 2023, had been struggling without Fudd, perhaps seeing some resolution to her situation has helped things. Dallas enters off back-to-back wins to get its magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one. The Dallas coaching staff has been using forward Awak Kuier, who leads the team in blocks, in place of Fudd in the starting lineup.
Paige Bueckers had 32 points, going 6-for-6 from deep, in Sunday's 92-70 rout of Seattle. Those six makes tied the WNBA record for most 3s made without a miss in a game. Bueckers outscored the Storm herself in the first quarter, 18-17. Those 18 points matched a team record in a first quarter. Dallas is now 13-5 year when outscoring opponents in the first.
Jessica Shepard extended her team record with her 21st double-double of the year, putting up 11 points and 11 rebounds. Shepard is the only player in the WNBA this season to record at least 400 rebounds and 175 assists and is second in rebounds per game at 11.1. She is -180 for a double-double tonight. Kuier had nine points, seven rebounds and was plus-21. Dallas shot at least 50% from the field for the ninth time this season and made double-digit 3-pointers for a 12th time. The Wings' 22 victories have tied a single-season team record since they moved from Detroit.
If you're interested in WNBA betting and parlay betting, I've put together a same-game parlay for Tuesday's matchup between the Fire and Wings that can be crafted at the top sports betting apps. You can also target some of the top sports betting promos.
Tonight concludes the season series between the clubs with the teams splitting the first two close in Portland. Shepard had a triple double of 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the most recent one (leads the WNBA with four triple-doubles this year), a 101-97 Dallas victory on July 22, while Bueckers had 21 points. Fudd was healthy then.
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Dallas should have no trouble winning outright (12-6 at home), with models projecting something in the ballpark of 93-86. Portland is last in the WNBA in rebounding, so Shepard should have little issue getting to at least eight boards barring injury or foul trouble. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
