Dallas Wings vs. Connecticut Sun Prediction and Odds - 6/22/21
It’s an interconference matchup on the WNBA hardwood in the Nutmeg State. The Dallas Wings are on the road as they travel to face the Connecticut Sun Tuesday night. Dallas earned a 95-77 home win over Minnesota Saturday in order to split a two-game series between the teams. Connecticut was dropped 91-81 on the road by Chicago Saturday as they were swept in their two-game series. Last season, the Sun swept both meetings between the teams in the bubble, including a 70-66 victory as the “home” team on August 12, 2020 in the most recent contest. As it stands, Connecticut has prevailed in nine of the last 10 meetings.
Dallas Wings Looking to Earn Road Win
Dallas snapped a two-game losing skid and earned a split of their two-game set at home with Minnesota as they prevailed Saturday night. The Wings improved to 6-7 on the season and hold the seventh seed in the WNBA playoff picture, half a game ahead of ninth-place Minnesota to remain on the right side of the playoff cut line. Dallas used an 11-2 run in the first quarter to break a 7-7 tie and never let the Lynx draw closer than six the rest of the way. The Wings shot an even 50% from the field, including a sizzling 17 of 28 from three-point range, and dominated the boards 40-26. Marina Mabrey led Dallas by pouring in 28 points in 18 minutes off the bench in the victory.
The Wings come into this one third in the league in scoring with 85.3 points per game this season. Dallas is first in rebounding (38.8 boards per contest) but rank 10th in the league in assists with 17.8 per game. The Wings are struggling defensively, ranking 7th by allowing 82.8 points per contest. Arike Ogunbowale (20.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists) is one of three players scoring in double figures for the Wings this season. Allisha Gray (9.9 points), Marina Mabrey (16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists), Isabelle Harrison (7.8 points, 6.3 rebounds) and Kayla Thornton (9.6 points, 6.4 rebounds) are all capable scoring options as well. Charli Collier, Tyasha Harris, Chelsea Dungee, Awak Kuier, Moriah Jefferson, Satou Sabally (12.7 points, 5.7 boards), Dana Evans, Kristine Anigwe and Bella Alarie all can be looked to for minutes for coach Brian Agler. The Wings are eighth in the league in field goal percentage as they hit 41.7% as a team. Dallas is fourth in three-pointers per game (8.8) and stand fourth in the league in three-point shooting as they hit 36.5% from long range. The Wings are fourth in free throw shooting as they convert 82.8% of their chances at the stripe.
Connecticut Sun Hope Return Home Gives Boost
Connecticut was swept on the road in a two-game set by a surging Chicago team and heads home losers of three straight contests. The Sun enter this game 8-5 on the season and they hold the third seed in the WNBA playoff picture. Connecticut led by nine after the opening quarter, by as many as 11 in the second quarter, only to trail by six at the half. The Sun rallied to led by seven in the third quarter but trailed by two after three quarters. Connecticut trailed by eight early in the fourth quarter only to rally and tie the game at 76 with 3:46 to play. The Sun couldn’t maintain that momentum as they went scoreless for more than three minutes, giving up 13 unanswered points to seal their fate. Connecticut shot 46% from the field, including six of 18 from three-point range, but allowed Chicago to shoot 50% in the contest. Brionna Jones led the Sky with 22 points and eight boards in the loss.
The Sun is ninth in the league in scoring offense as they put up an average of 79.7 points per game so far this season. Connecticut is fifth in the league in rebounding (36.3 boards a night) while they stand 9th by dishing out 18 assists a game on the year. The Sun have been good defensively as they are first in scoring defense by allowing an average of 75.9 points per game. DeWanna Bonner is second on the Sun with 15.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game. Jonquel Jones (team-high 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds), Natisha Hiedeman (9.2 points) and Brionna Jones (13 points, 6.5 rebounds) each are valuable contributors. Jasmine Thomas (11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists), Briann January, Beatrice Mompreier, Stephanie Jones, DiJonai Carrington and Kaila Charles are important pieces for coach Curt Miller. Connecticut is third in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 43.7% as a team. The Sun are sixth in three-pointers per game (7.5) and third in three-point percentage (37%) on the year. Connecticut has sputtered at the charity stripe as they convert on 78.8% of their attempts, which is 8th in the league. Alyssa Thomas is questionable as she recovers from offseason surgery for a torn Achilles. Jones is out for most of June as she is representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in EuroBasket. Miller left the team June 15 to deal with a family medical emergency: Brandi Poole was named acting head coach in his absence.
Pick: Dallas Wings
Connecticut has struggled without Jonquel Jones, losing three straight while seeing their defense sliced and diced. The Sun have surrendered 89, 81 and 91 points in the last three games and that’s telling seeing that the team leads the league in scoring defense this season. Dallas is a high-octane offensive unit and more importantly, they are healthy at this point in time. Getting Sabally and Gray back after the three-on-three qualifying for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics has made their rotation that much more dangerous. The Sun has dimmed on both ends and that ends up costing them here as they suffer a fourth straight loss.
Total: Under
For all their offensive firepower, Dallas has actually had their issues pushing games over the total. Some of that is likely due to inflated totals for their games due to their good offensive work and poor defensive play but the fact remains that the under has hit in seven of their 13 games with one push this season. Connecticut, despite their recent issues, still leads the league in scoring defense and they will be tested here. The under has hit in eight of the 13 games the Sun have played this season. We’ve seen the under hit in five of the last six meetings: look for this one to end up a few points short of the mark at the final buzzer.
