Sun vs Sky: WNBA Odds, Expert Picks (Wednesday, June 12)

The Connecticut Sun haven't lost often this season — just once, in fact — and they didn't let their home defeat at the hands of the New York Liberty linger as they righted the ship with a comfortable 89-72 win over the Indian Fever. Owners of the best record in the league, they hit the road to face a Chicago Sky team that has struggled to find any consistency in losing three of its four games this month.

Their lone June win was over the Washington Mystics, who have just one victory on the season.

However, even though the Sky have struggled this season their previous matchup with the Sun was a competitive 86-82 outing that even saw Chicago take the lead into halftime before losing it in a third quarter that got away from them.

Since then these teams have gone in opposite directions, and Wednesday offers the 4-6 Sky a chance to make a statement against the 10-1 Sun in their last Commissioner's Cup matchup of the season.

If Connecticut is not the best team in the league, they are right up there. With just one loss on the season they head into this game firing on all cylinders. Their balanced offensive approach was on display Monday in the win over Indiana, as Dijonai Carrington led the way with 22 points but was helped by Dewanna Bonner's 17. Three others scored at least 10 as the team piled up 22 assists on the night.

Heading into Wednesday's tilt Alyssa Thomas leads all WNBA players in assists per game at 8.5 and is fourth in rebounds at 10.4, while Bonner paces the team at 18.6 points per outing.

The Sun boast the top defense in the league, surrendering just 70.7 points per game, but are just fifth in steals per contest and are last in the league in blocked shots. They allow the fewest rebounds of any team.

A middle-of-the-pack offensive team, the Sun shoot the ball at nearly 44 percent but make the third-fewest amount of three-point shots per game. They make up for this in part by getting to the free throw line, where they average nearly 17 makes per game.

The Sky underwent a bit of a roster makeover since their first-round exit at the hands of the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces last season, and thus far flashes of promise have been overshadowed by struggles, some of which were likely anticipated given all the new faces and who is no longer around.

Having traded star Kahleah Copper away in the offseason, new coach Teresa Weatherspoon has leaned on veteran Marina Mabrey, who is posting career best averages in points (15.6), rebounds (6.0) and assists (4.2) per game.

Chennedy Carter is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.9 points per game, and she has done it all coming off the bench. Rookie Angel Reese is third on the team averaging 11.6 points per game, but her 9.6 boards lead the Sky.

Getting Kamilla Cardoso back into the lineup after a shoulder injury should help improve things for a team that is hopeful of brighter days ahead.

As they return to health and become more familiar with each other on the court there is reason to believe the Sky are going to be a tough out. Reese and Cardoso should form one of the league's better young duos, and they should improve with every minute played.

But a promising future does not really do much for the present, where the Sky appear to be overmatched by a deeper and more consistent Sun team. Therefore it would not make sense to pick Chicago to win the game, but with how close they played the Sun just a couple weeks ago and the addition of Cardoso to the lineup, another close finish is in store.

The Sky are getting a healthy 7.5 points, and we'll take it.

Pick: Sky +7.5