WNBA predictions, picks today: Saturday’s best bets include pick from Sun vs. Sky

We have three afternoon games on the Saturday, Aug. 23, WNBA slate. The first one is between the New York Liberty and Atlanta Dream at 2 p.m. ET on CBS. That’s followed by the Las Vegas Aces battling the Washington Mystics at 3 p.m. ET and the Connecticut Sun facing the Chicago Sky at 4 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network. 

If you’re interested in WNBA betting and WNBA player props at the best betting sites for Saturday, Aug. 23, then make sure to see today’s WNBA best bets at FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook. If you’re new to betting on the WNBA, we’d recommend reading this WNBA betting guide.

Today’s WNBA picks:

Sabrina Ionescu Under 17.5 points -120 (1 unit, DK)Sky -3 -106 (1 unit, FD)

Sabrina Ionescu Under 17.5 points

Emma Meesseman has played in nine games with the Liberty since coming over from overseas. If you remove her debut when she was on a minutes restriction, she has been clearly eating into Sabrina Ionescu’s role on the offense. Ionescu has scored more than 17 points once in those eight games that Meesseman has played 24+ minutes. In the six games before this recent 8-game stretch, Ionescu had four instances where she took at least 20 shots. In Ionescu’s past eight games, however, here are her shot attempts: 18, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, 9 and 8. 

This is also not an ideal matchup for Ionescu because the Dream allow the fewest 3-point attempts per game in the WNBA. After Ionescu torched them for 34 points in their first meeting, Dream head coach Karl Smesko has made some nice adjustments on defending her, as Ionescu has scored just 14 and 9 points in the other two meetings. Ionescu is also questionable for this game with a foot injury, meaning that if she does play, she won’t be 100%. 

Sky -3

Credit where credit is due: Connecticut is playing its best ball of the season. The Sun have won three of their past four games, and the one loss was when they blew a 21-point lead in the second half and lost to the Indiana Fever in overtime. 

But I do think the market is once again undervaluing the Sky when they have Angel Reese, Ariel Atkins and Kamilla Cardoso all healthy. Reese and Atkins are both listed as probable for this contest, so I’m under the assumption they both will play. Reese, Atkins and Cardoso have all played the past two games together, which they had not done before that since July 14. In those two games, they’ve lost to the Seattle Storm by six points and beaten the New York Liberty by six on the road. That is much tougher competition than the Sun’s recent stretch of beating the Sky without Reese, the Mystics twice and a depleted Fever team that lost another key rotation player in Sophie Cunningham in the first half against the Sun.