Each day of the WNBA season, our team of fantasy and betting experts breaks down every game on the slate, making note of everything from injuries and lineup changes to recent trends and more.
All odds are provided by Caesars Sportsbook. Times are ET.
Here's what to look for during today's slate:
Las Vegas Aces at Los Angeles Sparks10:00 p.m. ET, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
Line: Aces -12.5
Money line: Aces (-1000), Sparks (+650)
Total: 170.5 points
BPI Win%: Aces (74.3%)
Injury Report
Aces: Riquna Williams (Out)
Sparks: Jasmine Thomas (Out), Azura Stevens (Out), Katie Lou Samuelson (Out)
Fantasy Streamer: Lexie Brown (available in 80.8% of leagues). With Jasmine Thomas (knee) not ready to return to the lineup, Brown has joined the starting unit for the Sparks. Brown had a solid season last year, finishing just outside the top-50 in fantasy hoops scoring, and in her fourth season she has the potential to improve with more minutes. She posted 24 points, 4 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 2 assists and a steal in 22 minutes in the season opener, good for 27 fantasy points, and if she can maintain that level she has definite streaming potential. -Andre Snellings
Fantasy Streamer: Alysha Clark (available in 80.6% of leagues). She comes off the bench for one of the most high-powered offenses in the league. In the first game, she did a little of everything with 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 3-pointers. Las Vegas is also facing a team with strong forwards which means the starting forwards like A'ja Wilson and Candace Parker could get into foul trouble which means she might get more playing time and opportunities to score fantasy points. -Jennifer LaCroix
Best Bet: Aces -12.5 points. This is a big number, but one theme of the early season has been that when the elite of the league play the not as elite, blowouts ensue. Currently, the Aces are the highest ranked team in the league according to BPI, while the Sparks are fourth-from-the-bottom. The Sparks did get a blowout victory of their own in their debut against the Mercury, but they just don't have the talent to run with the Aces. The Aces won their season debut by a whopping 41 points, and even on the road, they have the ability to hang a big number on the Sparks on Thursday. -Snellings
Aces Under 92.5 points. While the Aces offense has been the best in the league over the past three seasons, I don't think they are going to reach this total on the road in Los Angeles. In their series history with the Sparks they have only scored more than 92 points once and that was in the 2021 regular season, when neither of the Ogwumike sisters were playing in that game. -LaCroix
Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury10:00 p.m. ET, Footprint Center, Phoenix
Line: Mercury -3
Money line: Lynx (+135), Mercury (-160)
Total: 161 points
BPI Win%: Mercury (57.1%)
Injury Report
Lynx: Natalie Achonwa (Out)
Mercury: Megan Gustafson (Out), Shey Peddy (Out), Skylar Diggins-Smith (Out)
Total under 161. I'm picking the under here, neither team has scored more than 77 in their first two games this season. The Lynx offense struggled at home and I don't see it getting better on the road. In their last five road season-openers for Minnesota they haven't reached the 80-point mark. On the Phoenix side, they are still missing two of key pieces in the backcourt with Shey Peddy (9.9 PPG last season) and Skylar Diggins-Smith out (19.7 PPG last season) both out. On top of that the Mercury have struggled offensively over their last 9 games only averaging 71.3 PPG during that span. -LaCroix
Fantasy streamer: Sug Sutton (available in 92.8% of ESPN leagues) has been the scoring punch off the bench for the Mercury in each of their first two games, scoring double-digits in both outings. Sutton has been out of the WNBA since her rookie season of 2020, but seems to have found a home on a Mercury team currently down both Diggins-Smith and Peddy. Sutton has been getting major minutes, 28.0 MPG, which gives her the opportunity to produce on a nightly basis. -Snellings
Fantasy streamer: Tiffany Mitchell (available in 94.7% of ESPN leagues). The Lynx are not deep at the guard position outside of Kayla McBride, which means more minutes and opportunities for Mitchell. She showed a lot of consistency in the first two games of the season averaging 8.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.5 BPG. She also has played well in her career against Mercury averaging 10.8 PPG against them, her most against a single opponent in her career. -LaCroix