Toronto Tempo vs. Connecticut Sun Prediction: WNBA Preview and Betting Odds
Laura Juskaite had 19 points, and Marina Mabrey added 18 points and 7 assists, but the Tempo surrendered 100 points for the third time in four games in a 113-91 setback at Indiana on Tuesday.
Isabelle Harrison had 11 points and 8 rebounds, while Maria Conde had 12 points off the bench. The Tempo added to their growing injury list as Julie Allemand (headache) and leading scorer Brittney Sykes (leg injury) both left the game early.
Connecticut is on its way to one of the worst seasons in WNBA history. The Sun have dropped six straight, including three in a row at home. That includes an 88-81 defeat at the hands of the Washington Mystics on Wednesday. Aneesah Morrow led Connecticut with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Toronto Tempo vs. Connecticut Sun WNBA Odds and Betting Trends
The Tempo are slight -1.5 road favourites with a -128 moneyline. Meanwhile, Connecticut is at +104.
The over/under for this contest is 167.5. Both teams have played to the Over in five of their last six games.
Toronto Tempo
Losing Sykes, who is fifth in the league at 20.1 points per game, would be disastrous for Toronto. Juskaite, a rookie forward, filled some of the scoring load when she tied her career-high with 19 points, but Mabrey can only hold the fort down for so long. Allemand is expected back tonight.
Starters Nyara Saballa (12.4 ppg, team-leading 5.4 REB) and Kiki Rice (12.7 points, 4.7 REB, 2.6 AST) continue to be out of the lineup.
Toronto needs competent and productive bodies back in the lineup. If Sykes cannot go tonight, that would mean three of the team’s top four scorers, collectively averaging more than 45 points, would be sidelined.
Defensively, the Tempo need to get some stops. They have allowed an average of 100.7 points over their last four games.
Connecticut Sun
Morrow is emerging as a double-double force for the Sun. She has nine double-doubles on the season and is third in the league at 10.4 rebounds per game.
She is really the only component to this squad to get excited about right now. Brittney Griner, who had just 6 points and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes against Washington on Wednesday, has missed eight of 16 games with a rib injury and other ailments, and she has been mostly pedestrian when she is on the court.
Connecticut is just 1-6 at home this season, which makes sense since the franchise is moving out of New England after the season.
WNBA Prediction: Who will win Tempo vs. Sun?
This may depend on Sykes’s availability. If she can go, it’s hard to pick against Toronto. In fact, we’re going to go ahead and take the Tempo whether Sykes suits up or not.
Mabrey is second on the team with 17.9 points per game and leads the team with 3.7 assists. Another 18 and 7 outing, as she had against Indiana, will be just fine. Look for Mabrey and Juskaite to get Toronto back to .500 with an 89-84 victory this evening.