Phoenix Mercury vs Atlanta Dream Prediction, 8/21/2021 WNBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Phoenix Mercury vs Atlanta Dream

Date: Saturday, August 21, 2021

Location: Gateway Center Arena in College Park, GA

TV: ESPN2

The Atlanta Dream (6-15) play the Phoenix Mercury (11-10) at Gateway Center Arena on Saturday.

The Phoenix Mercury faced off with the Indiana Fever and took home the win by a score of 84-80 in their last contest. Phoenix ended the game having earned a 41.8% FG percentage (28 out of 67) and made 6 out of their 20 shots from beyond the perimeter. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Mercury knocked down 22 of 24 tries for a percentage of 91.7%. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 35 with 8 of them being offensive. They also recorded 20 assists in the matchup while forcing 13 turnovers and getting 4 steals. Pertaining to defense, Phoenix allowed the other team to go 45.5% from the field on 30 out of 66 shooting. Indiana recorded 16 dimes and had 8 steals for the matchup. In addition, Indiana snagged 38 boards (11 offensive, 27 defensive) and got 3 rejections. Indiana finished the contest at 58.8% at the free throw line by knocking down 10 of their 17 tries. They knocked down 10 of 22 tries from long range.

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Diana Taurasi is one player who was a factor for this game. She accounted for 22 points on 5 of 12 shooting. She saw the court for 32:42 mins and pulled down 7 boards. Taurasi finished 41.7% from the floor and also distributed 7 assists. An additional player that was a determining factor in this contest for the Mercury was Brittney Griner. She collected 7 rebounds in her 32:34 min played. She finished shooting 57.1% from the floor in the game by connecting on 8-of-14 (25 points). Overall, Griner accounted for 2 assists.

Phoenix heads into this contest with a record of 11-10 for the year. They are giving up possession 12.9 times per game and as a unit are committing 16.7 personal fouls per game. As a unit, Phoenix is snagging 36.1 boards per game and has 400 dimes on the year, which ranks 7th in basketball in terms of passing. The Mercury are shooting 31.5% on 3-point shots (143 of 454) and 79.9% from the free throw line. They average 80.6 points per contest (8th in the WNBA) while shooting 43.1% from the field. When they are on defense, the Mercury are able to force 10.0 turnovers per game while drawing 19.9 fouls. They rank 2nd in the WNBA in allowing assists to the opposition with 373 surrendered for the season. The Mercury defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 42.1% (210 of 417) and they concede 36.5 boards per contest as a group. They are giving up 32.3% from beyond the arc and they rank 7th in basketball in opponents PPG (81.4).

When they last stepped on the court, the Atlanta Dream took a defeat with a final score of 85-80 when they played the Los Angeles Sparks. The Dream pulled down 31 defensive boards and 17 offensive rebounds totaling 48 in this contest. They also turned it over 13 times, while getting 10 steals in the game. The Sparks earned 18 fouls for the contest which took the Dream to the charity stripe for a total of 18 attempts. They were able to knock down 7 of those for a rate of 38.9%. When talking about shooting from downtown, Atlanta buried 5 of 20 tries (25.0%). When all was said and done, the Dream walked away from this one shooting 34 out of 88 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.6%. The Dream permitted the Sparks to make 36 of their 80 attempts from the floor which had them at 45.0% in the game. They finished the game shooting 22.7% from distance via 5 of 22 and finished the game at 8 out of 10 from the free throw line (80.0%). When discussing how they attacked the glass, Atlanta permitted Los Angeles to collect 41 in total (6 on the offensive side).

Odyssey Sims was important for the Dream for the matchup. She buried 10 of 27 for the contest for a field goal rate of 37.0%, and accumulated 3 rebounds. Sims totaled 26 points in her 39:00 minutes on the court and earned 6 dimes in this contest. One more player who came through for Atlanta was Courtney Williams. She left the arena with 5 assists in 36:41 mins on the court, and she shot 2 of 13 from the field. Williams ended the game having shot 15.4% from the field while also collecting 4 points and 9 total rebounds.

Atlanta has a win-loss mark of 6-15 so far this season. When it comes to offense, the Dream are connecting on 41.9% from the field, which ranks them 9th in basketball. Atlanta has accumulated 1,732 pts on the season (82.5 per game) and they grab 33.9 boards per contest. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 18.3 times per contest (8th in basketball) and they are giving up possession 11.4 times per game. The Dream commit 19.3 fouls per game and they hit 71.6% from the free throw line. The Dream on defense are ranked 12th in basketball in points per game surrendered with 88.3. They are forcing 15.9 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 47.4% from the floor (12th in the league). The Atlanta defense surrenders 40.1% on shots from 3-point land (192 of 479) and their opponents are converting on 80.0% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 22.0 assists and 37.5 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 12th and 11th in basketball.

Who will win tonight's WNBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Phoenix

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