Thursday's WNBA slate is a lonely one, with the sole game being the New York Liberty versus the Dallas Wings. These two teams faced off a few days ago, resulting in the Liberty blowing out the Wings by 20 points at home.
Will Stewart go off again, or will Ogunbowale and the Wings keep this matchup closer? Read below for my WNBA player props for Thursday, August 22.
Andrew Norton's WNBA Player Props for Thursday, August 22
Wings vs Liberty Player Prop: Arike Ogunbowale Point Total is Too High
As expected, Ogunbowale’s volume has dropped off substantially with the return of Satou Sabally; she has only taken 12 and 13 field goal attempts in her two games with Sabally back in the lineup.
Ogunbowale has had a really inefficient season, shooting merely 36.1% from the floor on just shy of 20 field goal attempts per game. While her inefficiency on that end of the floor is somewhat understandable, as she has had to shoulder most of the offensive workload with Sabally sidelined, it certainly does not make her point prop very attractive right now.
At least, not until the line adjusts to a more reasonable number.
This is especially the case now that Sabally has taken a huge bite out of Ogunbowale's volume.
Additionally, this Liberty defense is one of the best in the league. As we discussed earlier in the week, when these two teams faced off last, the Liberty ranked third in defensive rating, second in defensive rebounding percentage, and second in opponent field goal percentage.
On Tuesday, Ogunbowale finished with 17 points on 13 shots against New York. It should be a similar result for both Ogunbowale and the Wings in this one.
Pick: Arike Ogunbowale Under 18.5 Points (-106)
Wings vs Liberty Player Prop: Breanna Stewart Bound for Another Big Game?
This pick is contingent on a positive pregame status update for superstar guard Sabrina Ionescu, who missed Tuesday’s matchup due to a minor neck injury. Ionescu is questionable ahead of the second game in the past three days against the Dallas Wings.
If Ionescu is still sidelined, Stewart is bound to have another monstrous outing, comparable to her huge outing on Tuesday.
Stewart went 7-for-22 (31.8%) from the floor, en route to a 26-point outing and a win versus Dallas. It was an off shooting night for her, considering she has hit 45.4% of her field goal attempts this season and the Dallas defense is horrendous.
However, she still managed to easily clear the 23.5-point line that we are now backing in the exact situation (if Ionescu sits for the second consecutive game) as earlier in the week.
If she has an “on-night” with similar volume (22 field goal attempts) against a Wings defense that ranks last in the WNBA in defensive rating, opponent field goal percentage, and allows the most points in the paint to opponents this season, she should have no issues slaughtering this line.
Pick: Breanna Stewart Over 23.5 Points (-110)
