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Wings to Cover Spread in Game 1 vs Dream

· Sep 15 - 3 minutes read

The Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings are each searching for their first playoff series win in years when the two meet in the opening round of the playoffs on Friday. The Dream haven’t won a series since 2016 while the Wings’ drought goes back even further to 2009.

Both teams will be looking to get the series off to a strong start, but after Dallas’ dominance in the regular season, WNBA odds has it favored in the first game as well.

Wings to Cover Spread in Game 1 vs Dream

Dream Defense Hits Wall

Though Atlanta won three of its final games of the season, it struggled defensively in its two losses against superior offensive teams.

The Dream allowed 80.8 points in their last five games of the season, but two of those games came against the two worst-scoring teams in the league.

Atlanta had trouble slowing down its opponent in both of its losses. The Dream was not able to stop either the Minnesota Lynx or the Wings, who averaged 92.5 points on 46.7% shooting against them in the two defeats.

The Dream had the seventh-ranked defense in the WNBA in the regular season, giving up 84 points a game, but they’ll need to tighten up in the playoffs to get past their first series.

Offense boosts Odds of Wings

Dallas closed out the regular season strong, using solid offense to win three of its last five and its last two games of the season.

The Wings averaged 97.4 points on 49.5% shooting in their last five games, capped by a 94-77 rout of the Dream in their regular-season finale.

Dallas was led by Satou Sabally down the stretch, who averaged 23.6 points in the final five games, though Arike Ogunbowale was big in the win over Atlanta, leading the team with 32 points.

29 FOR ARIKE OGUNBOWALE pic.twitter.com/rM90QwDh15

— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) September 10, 2023

The Wings are third in the league, averaging 87.9 points, and with the way their offense was playing to end the season, they should be a solid WNBA pick against Atlanta as well.

Dream vs Wings Best Bet

The sportsbook lists Dallas as a pretty solid favorite in game one, so for bettors to get the most out of their wager, it may be better to take a look at the WNBA lines, where Dallas is a six-point favorite.

With the way Atlanta’s defense and the Wings’ offense are playing, the Dream are going to have a tough time slowing down a high-flying Dallas team. Atlanta also hasn’t been putting up at the same clip as the Wings recently, averaging 83 points in its last five games and managing 77 against Dallas.

The Wings have covered the WNBA spread against Atlanta in all three of their regular-season meetings, winning by double-digits in two of the three games, and they should be able to cover the spread on Friday.

WNBA Pick: Dallas Wings -6 (-110)