The Sparks Will Continue To Struggle On The Road
Sparks vs Mercury Preview: L.A.'s Losing Streak Could Hit Seven
The Los Angeles Sparks are on a six-game losing streak heading into their matchup against the Phoenix Mercury. They haven’t won a game without Cameron Brink, who is sidelined for the year with a torn ACL. Brink was the second overall pick in the most recent WNBA Draft and saw her season cut short with that injury.
Throughout the six-game losing streak, the Sparks have lost by at least nine points in five of their last six games. Oddly enough, the last time the Sparks won a game was at home against the Las Vegas Aces during the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Meanwhile, the Mercury are 8-8 and have the potential to become a team above .500. Since Brittney Griner returned to the court six games ago, Phoenix is 4-2 with intriguing wins over the Liberty and Storm at home.
Lucky for the Mercury, they’ll be home against the Sparks, who aren’t even close to what the Storm and Liberty are.
Therefore, the Mercury are -10.5 favorites at home with a total up to 164.5. Their moneyline is a whopping -575 to beat the Sparks, straight-up.
Here’s our Sparks vs Mercury preview for this exciting weekend matchup.
🏀 Sparks vs Mercury 🏀
📊Records: Los Angeles Sparks (4-13), Phoenix Mercury (8-8)
📍Location: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
⏰Day/Time: 📺Streaming: iON
Sparks vs Mercury Preview & Trends
While the Los Angeles Sparks are 4-13 on the season, they’re still 8-8 against the spread (ATS). They’ve just struggled on the road, going 1-9 away from Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Sparks have hit the Under in one more game than the Over this season.
On the other hand, the Mercury is 10-6 ATS. They’ve also added WNBA over under two more times to the Over this year. That said, Phoenix is 6-2 at home this season.
Phoenix already played Los Angeles on June 2. In that game, Phoenix won 87-68 at home as 5-point favorites.
Our WNBA picks for this second matchup are below.
Cameron Brink’s ACL Surgery
On Tuesday. Cameron Brink posted on Instagram that she successfully underwent surgery to repair the torn ACL. She reflected, on her social media account, that she never expected it to happen to her but that she wouldn’t let it define her.
Brink will also miss the 3×3 Olympics with Team USA. Her teammate, Dearica Hamby, will take her spot instead.
That said, the Sparks have some of the worst WNBA championship odds now.
The Mercury Can’t Look Ahead!
Phoenix has a matchup against Catilin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Sunday. The media is asking more questions about that game than this one.
The Mercury can’t get caught looking ahead. They’re 10.5-point favorites and can’t afford to fall back below .500 with a loss to the Sparks, who have lost six consecutive games.
Will We See Any Defense?
The Los Angeles Sparks have struggled to score consistently this season. After all, Hamby is the only scorer on the Sparks with more than 10 points per game. This is ultimately why the Sparks are 11th in scoring. In addition, Los Angeles is 12th in points per 100 possessions and has allowed the 11th most points per 100 possessions on the defensive end.
The Sparks earned the second-overall pick for a reason. But now they don’t even have Brink to develop and improve with.
Los Angeles is good at getting to the foul line, but they’re 9th in points per play and shooting a 48.1% effective field goal percentage, which is 6th in the WNBA.
Meanwhile, Phoenix has a very good defense. The Mercury have held opponents to a 42.4% field goal percentage and have allowed teams to hit only 47.1% from inside the arc. While teams are draining 3s against the Mercury at a high rate, the Sparks are no threat from downtown.
On the flip side, the Mercury have scored 81.8 points per game, which is fifth in the WNBA and above average. They’ve also added 83.7 possessions per 40 minutes, and the run offense has a very high pace. They don’t always shoot the ball well. However, their margin of -4.5 is not even close to Los Angeles’ margin of 11.3.
The Sparks typically stink on the road and lack enough offense to sustain success against the Mercury, who are, again, scoring at an above-average rate in the WNBA.
It’s an obvious look-ahead spot and a scary one at that. However, we like the Mercury to stand tall and earn a 10.5-point cover against the Los Angeles in this Sparks vs Mercury preview. The stats and analytics love the Mercury in this one.
For WNBA betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
