Adam Williams presents his prediction for the WNBA match.
Indiana Fever
The Fever clinched their playoff spot indirectly on the last game day: the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Chicago Sky, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Atlanta Dream, making the Fever unreachable for their rivals.
To understand the significance of this moment for the organisation, let's delve into a bit of history. The Fever had not been in the playoffs for seven years — tying the worst streak in WNBA history. On Sunday, they improved their season record to 17 wins and 16 losses, marking their first time above 50% since June 2019. Remarkably, they started the season 1-8. This means the team, built around young super talents, was under tremendous stress for most of the season, including post-Olympics — the Fever have won six out of seven games since the league resumed. For the team, this is a massive sigh of relief, so we shouldn’t expect them to be overly motivated against a weaker opponent.
Los Angeles Sparks
Coach Curt Miller insists the team is doing everything to win each game, rather than just tanking the season. His players responded with a strong performance against the Liberty (94:88), ending a seven-game losing streak. The Sparks also have a decent record against double-digit spreads. They have successfully covered in their last three encounters with strong opponents: the Aces, the Sun, and the Liberty.
Indiana Fever - Los Angeles Sparks Prediction
We think this is an opportune moment to bet against the Fever. The roster consists mainly of very young players: Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston are experiencing this situation for the first time. It's conceivable that the Fever will fall short in motivation and aggression.
