WNBA DFS Breakdown: Friday

Written by

Chris Benzine

Published on June 28, 2019

I'm excited to announce that we have some new WNBA features to improve your WNBA daily prep!

They can be found at these links:

Lineups Page (Has been out for a week or two)
WNBA Team Trends
Opponent Averages by Position

DraftKings and FanDuel Price Differences

Top 5 FanDuel

PLAYER	POS	TEAM	FanDuel Price	% of Budget	DraftKings Price	% of Budget	Difference
Jordin Canada	G	SEA	6200	15.5%	11900	23.80%	-8.3%
Blake Dietrick	G	SEA	3000	7.5%	6800	13.60%	-6.1%
Chloe Jackson	G	CHI	3600	9.0%	6100	12.20%	-3.2%
Kia Nurse	G	NY	6800	17.0%	9300	18.60%	-1.6%
Arike Ogunbowale	G	DAL	5800	14.5%	8000	16.00%	-1.5%

Top 5 DraftKings

PLAYER	POS	TEAM	FanDuel Price	% of Budget	DraftKings Price	% of Budget	Difference
Isabelle Harrison	F	DAL	5800	14.5%	5400	10.80%	3.7%
Crystal Langhorne	F	SEA	4900	12.3%	4500	9.00%	3.3%
Shenise Johnson	G	IND	3900	9.8%	3300	6.60%	3.2%
Leilani Mitchell	G	PHO	5700	14.3%	5700	11.40%	2.9%
Tayler Hill	G	DAL	3500	8.8%	3000	6.00%	2.8%

2019 Team Stats

2019 Advanced Team Offense Stats

TEAM	PACE	OFFRTG	AST%	AST/TO	AST RATIO	OREB%	REB%	TOV%	EFG%	TS%
LAS VEGAS ACES	101.7	95.4	68.7	1.24	17.5	29.5	53.5	19.5	46.8	51.6
NEW YORK LIBERTY	100.26	96.5	62.6	1.27	16.1	31.1	48.1	17.6	45.8	50.3
LOS ANGELES SPARKS	98.22	92.1	60	1.09	15.2	30.5	47.4	19.2	44.8	48.6
CHICAGO SKY	97.86	97.7	65.7	1.28	18	28.9	49.6	19.4	49.4	52.9
CONNECTICUT SUN	95.45	100.5	63.5	1.35	16.5	35.7	53

I'm excited to announce that we have some new WNBA features to improve your WNBA daily prep!

They can be found at these links:

Lineups Page (Has been out for a week or two)
WNBA Team Trends
Opponent Averages by Position

DraftKings and FanDuel Price Differences

Top 5 FanDuel

PLAYER	POS	TEAM	FanDuel Price	% of Budget	DraftKings Price	% of Budget	Difference
Jordin Canada	G	SEA	6200	15.5%	11900	23.80%	-8.3%
Blake Dietrick	G	SEA	3000	7.5%	6800	13.60%	-6.1%
Chloe Jackson	G	CHI	3600	9.0%	6100	12.20%	-3.2%
Kia Nurse	G	NY	6800	17.0%	9300	18.60%	-1.6%
Arike Ogunbowale	G	DAL	5800	14.5%	8000	16.00%	-1.5%

Top 5 DraftKings

PLAYER	POS	TEAM	FanDuel Price	% of Budget	DraftKings Price	% of Budget	Difference
Isabelle Harrison	F	DAL	5800	14.5%	5400	10.80%	3.7%
Crystal Langhorne	F	SEA	4900	12.3%	4500	9.00%	3.3%
Shenise Johnson	G	IND	3900	9.8%	3300	6.60%	3.2%
Leilani Mitchell	G	PHO	5700	14.3%	5700	11.40%	2.9%
Tayler Hill	G	DAL	3500	8.8%	3000	6.00%	2.8%

2019 Team Stats

2019 Advanced Team Offense Stats

TEAM	PACE	OFFRTG	AST%	AST/TO	AST RATIO	OREB%	REB%	TOV%	EFG%	TS%
LAS VEGAS ACES	101.7	95.4	68.7	1.24	17.5	29.5	53.5	19.5	46.8	51.6
NEW YORK LIBERTY	100.26	96.5	62.6	1.27	16.1	31.1	48.1	17.6	45.8	50.3
LOS ANGELES SPARKS	98.22	92.1	60	1.09	15.2	30.5	47.4	19.2	44.8	48.6
CHICAGO SKY	97.86	97.7	65.7	1.28	18	28.9	49.6	19.4	49.4	52.9
CONNECTICUT SUN	95.45	100.5	63.5	1.35	16.5	35.7	53	17.4	47	50.6
MINNESOTA LYNX	95.29	96.7	66.1	1.05	17	34	52.3	22.6	49.3	53.4
WASHINGTON MYSTICS	94.96	107.9	65.7	1.76	18.6	33	49.7	15.2	51.1	55
ATLANTA DREAM	94.13	91.2	59.1	1.06	14.3	33.2	47.9	18.6	42.7	46.8
SEATTLE STORM	93.7	94.3	60.4	1.14	15.7	30.1	48.7	18.9	46	50.2
INDIANA FEVER	92.5	100.3	55.2	1.2	15.2	35.6	50.6	17.7	46.6	50.8
PHOENIX MERCURY	91.35	95.9	62.9	1.2	16	27.4	46.3	18.1	46	50.7
DALLAS WINGS	90.87	90.8	59.2	0.99	14.2	38.5	51.4	20.4	41	45.2

2019 Advanced Team Defense Stats

TEAM	DEF RTG	DREB	DREB%	STL	BLK	OPP PTS OFF TOV	OPP PTS 2ND CHANCE	OPP PTS FB	OPP PTS PAINT
NEW YORK LIBERTY	103.8	25.8	66.6	8.3	4.4	17.4	12.4	7	37.6
ATLANTA DREAM	103.4	25.9	62.3	6	6	17.7	15	10.2	32.2
PHOENIX MERCURY	100.7	24.5	64.7	7.4	3.9	14.8	12.1	11.1	32.8
INDIANA FEVER	100.3	25.1	65.2	6.2	4.4	15.1	11.3	7.8	31
LOS ANGELES SPARKS	99.4	26.2	64.8	7.7	4.1	16.9	13.5	9.7	34.8
CHICAGO SKY	97.5	28.8	67.8	7.1	4.4	16.3	13.8	7.2	37
DALLAS WINGS	97.1	23.9	66.2	7.4	4.3	16.1	10.7	9.2	29.8
MINNESOTA LYNX	94.6	24.9	70	8.7	4.1	16.5	9.2	10.7	32.5
CONNECTICUT SUN	94.1	27	71.8	8.3	5.2	13.4	8.5	6.3	33.5
WASHINGTON MYSTICS	94.1	24.3	65.9	9.5	5.5	11.5	13.1	6.2	32.9
SEATTLE STORM	91.9	23.6	68	9.4	4	17.1	8.8	12.1	30.5
LAS VEGAS ACES	88.8	31.6	75.2	8.1	5.2	17.9	8.6	7.7	28.4

2019 Advanced Opposition Scoring

TEAM	OPP PTS	OPP FGA	OPP FG%	OPP 3PA	OPP 3P%	OPP FTA	OPP REB	OPP AST	OPP TOV	OPP STL	OPP BLK	OPP PFD
NEW YORK LIBERTY	86.7	70.3	44.8	18	35	22.1	37.5	18.8	14.7	7.7	5	19.7
LOS ANGELES SPARKS	81.3	70.2	41.3	20.2	38.1	19.6	39.6	18	15.6	9.2	5.6	19.2
ATLANTA DREAM	81.2	72.4	42.2	22.1	33.7	17	39.6	19.2	13.1	8.2	5.4	16.9
CHICAGO SKY	79.6	73.8	41.5	20.3	30	16.3	34.5	18.5	13.2	8.8	3.9	16.8
INDIANA FEVER	77.4	68.4	40.3	18.3	35.5	19	34.6	18.3	12.8	6.9	3.4	18.3
PHOENIX MERCURY	76.8	69	42.2	19	41.4	13.1	37.5	17.5	14.3	6.1	3.6	17.5
LAS VEGAS ACES	75.2	72.4	37.7	23.9	28.5	16.6	36.2	17.8	13.8	9.3	6.5	17.6
MINNESOTA LYNX	75	66.5	42.9	19.5	31.2	14.7	31.1	16.4	16.5	9.5	4.2	17.2
CONNECTICUT SUN	74.9	68.2	42.5	19.9	28.5	13.8	33.5	19.3	14.8	7.6	4.5	15.8
WASHINGTON MYSTICS	74.5	68.2	42.7	19.8	31.2	13.4	35	16.3	16.8	5.5	3.5	14.8
DALLAS WINGS	73.4	64.2	41.2	19.4	32	18.1	33.6	18	14.8	6.8	6.4	18.3
SEATTLE STORM	71.8	65.7	41.9	19.3	33.6	12.4	34	18.1	17.3	8.8	4.1	15.5

Data from WNBA.com

Dallas Wings at New York Liberty

Injuries

Note: All return dates are just estimates

Dallas

Name	Pos	Injury	Status	Return
Glory Johnson	F	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/5/2019
Skylar Diggins-Smith	G	Personal	OUT	7/5/2019
Moriah Jefferson	G	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/5/2019
Tayler Hill	G	Knee	OUT	8/1/2019

New York

Name	Pos	Injury	Status	Return
Rebecca Allen	F	Hand	OUT	6/30/2019
Marine Johannes	G	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/3/2019
Bria Hartley	G	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/3/2019
Amanda Zahui B	C	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/3/2019
Kiah Stokes	C	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/3/2019

Vegas Odds: New York -4 (Open: New York -3.5) Over/Under: 155 (Open: 154)

2019 Player Stats

Dallas

PLAYER	G	GS	MPG	PPG	OREB	DREB	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	TO	PF
Arike Ogunbowale	8	3	24.6	12.9	0.8	1.6	2.4	1.3	0.9	0.0	34.8	28.9	75.0	1.3	1.9
Kayla Thornton	9	7	29.9	10.3	2.3	4.2	6.6	1.9	0.9	0.2	34.4	18.4	95.2	1.4	2.0
Allisha Gray	9	7	29.2	10.0	2.2	3.4	5.7	2.4	1.0	0.3	43.3	22.2	77.8	1.1	2.7
Isabelle Harrison	7	5	21.6	7.1	1.1	2.7	3.9	1.3	0.7	1.3	40.4	0.0	70.6	1.9	1.9
Glory Johnson	6	5	24.5	6.7	2.0	5.0	7.0	1.8	1.5	0.5	40.5	35.7	50.0	1.5	1.8
Theresa Plaisance	9	4	15.3	6.1	0.6	2.6	3.1	1.8	0.4	0.6	38.3	33.3	83.3	0.9	2.4
Kaela Davis	9	5	17.2	5.8	0.9	1.2	2.1	1.6	0.3	0.2	35.0	37.5	100	2.1	2.2
Megan Gustafson	3	0	11.3	5.7	1.3	2.7	4.0	0.7	0.3	0.0	63.6	0.0	75.0	0.3	0.7
Azurá Stevens	8	1	16.3	5.0	1.9	1.9	3.8	0.6	0.6	1.1	35.3	0.0	80.0	1.1	1.3
Imani McGee-Stafford	9	3	10.6	3.9	1.6	1.7	3.2	0.1	0.8	0.6	43.6	0.0	50.0	1.6	1.4
Brooke McCarty-Williams	9	3	19.1	3.4	0.4	1.0	1.4	3.1	0.9	0.1	26.3	36.8	80.0	1.4	1.4
Tayler Hill	4	2	12.3	3.3	0.5	0.8	1.3	0.8	0.3	0.0	30.8	16.7	80.0	0.0	1.0
Skylar Diggins-Smith	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Moriah Jefferson	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

New York

PLAYER	G	GS	MPG	PPG	OREB	DREB	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	TO	PF
Tina Charles	10	10	32.1	18.1	2.4	6.0	8.4	1.8	0.6	0.3	37.6	16.0	81.4	2.6	2.8
Kia Nurse	10	10	32.1	16.1	0.6	1.8	2.4	2.2	1.1	0.1	40.8	37.3	88.4	1.7	1.8
Asia Durr	9	8	30.2	12.0	0.2	0.9	1.1	1.7	1.0	0.4	45.2	33.3	87.5	1.3	2.7
Amanda Zahui B	9	9	27.6	11.4	1.3	6.4	7.8	0.9	1.1	2.3	50.6	40.0	78.6	1.6	3.4
Bria Hartley	5	1	21.6	9.0	1.6	3.4	5.0	4.2	1.2	0.0	28.9	25.0	83.3	1.8	1.4
Rebecca Allen	5	1	18.6	6.4	0.8	2.0	2.8	0.6	0.8	1.4	35.5	37.5	100	0.8	2.6
Brittany Boyd	10	10	22.9	5.9	0.4	2.6	3.0	6.0	1.9	0.2	36.9	10.0	90.9	3.1	2.3
Reshanda Gray	10	1	16.2	5.8	2.6	3.3	5.9	0.9	0.7	0.2	53.2	100	46.7	0.6	2.7
Tanisha Wright	8	0	14.8	3.6	0.3	1.9	2.1	3.0	1.0	0.4	44.4	14.3	80.0	1.8	1.8
Han Xu	5	0	6.2	2.6	0.0	0.8	0.8	0.0	0.2	0.2	54.5	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.4
Tiffany Bias	7	0	6.9	2.3	0.0	0.4	0.4	0.7	0.1	0.0	30.8	28.6	85.7	0.6	0.7
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe	4	0	12.5	0.5	1.3	1.5	2.8	0.3	0.3	0.0	16.7	0.0	0.0	0.8	1.3
Kiah Stokes	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Marine Johannes	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

The Skinny

Two of the team's hit hardest by absences, the Wings and Liberty enter this matchup with a combined nine players unavailable. After returning from a two-game absence, Isabelle Harrison scaled her minutes up to 32 in the last start with Glory Johnson still overseas. She figures to see big minutes again Friday and checks in as one of the best budgetary value differences on DraftKings versus her FanDuel price. Kayla Thornton has also been relied upon for heavy minutes, logging 35-plus minutes in the two games since Johnson's departure that remained close. Arike Ogunbowale and Allisha Gray continue to be the primary options in the frontcourt, with Ogunbowale accounting for more than 30 percent of the team's scoring in the last two games. Guards have accounted for nearly 59 percent of the scoring against the Liberty this season, so she could be in for another big night.

Dallas typically slows the tempo, owning the slowest in the league, but their defensive rating still checks in squarely in the middle of the pack. The Wings have still hacked their opponents at an above-average rate, which would peg Tina Charles and Kia Nurse (both have 43 free-throw attempts) as the primary beneficiaries. Dallas also sports the second-highest turnover rate in the league, with opposing guards averaging four steals per game. Brittany Boyd leads the squad with 19 steals this season and has tallied seven in the last three contests. The Wings have also been vulnerable to blocked shots, but Amanda Zahui B -- the Liberty's top rim protector -- remains overseas playing in the EuroBasket tournament.

Chicago Sky at Seattle Storm

Injuries

Note: All return dates are just estimates

Chicago

Name	Pos	Injury	Status	Return
Jamierra Faulkner	G	Knee	OUT	6/30/2019
Astou Ndour	C	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/2/2019
Katie Lou Samuelson	G	Hand	OUT	7/2/2019

Seattle

Ramu Tokashiki	F	Personal	SUSP	7/3/2019
Jewell Loyd	G	Ankle	OUT	7/12/2019
Sue Bird	G	Knee	OUT	7/17/2019
Breanna Stewart	F	Achilles	SUSP-INJ	2/1/2020

Vegas Odds: Seattle -3.5 (Open: Same) Over/Under: 154.5 (Open: 152)

2019 Player Stats

Chicago

PLAYER	G	GS	MPG	PPG	OREB	DREB	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	TO	PF
Diamond DeShields	10	10	29.6	13.5	1.0	4.9	5.9	2.2	1.1	0.5	38.5	35.4	77.8	1.9	2.0
Allie Quigley	10	10	30.3	12.3	0.5	2.4	2.9	2.7	0.8	0.2	49.5	46.0	100	1.1	1.8
Courtney Vandersloot	10	10	30.6	11.4	0.6	4.4	5.0	7.9	1.6	0.5	42.2	34.3	80.0	3.3	1.9
Stefanie Dolson	10	10	25.0	10.2	1.0	4.0	5.0	2.2	0.6	0.8	56.3	38.5	100	2.3	3.0
Cheyenne Parker	10	0	18.7	10.0	1.9	4.2	6.1	0.8	0.8	1.5	48.6	20.0	93.5	1.4	2.7
Jantel Lavender	10	9	27.6	7.7	2.1	4.6	6.7	1.3	0.4	0.8	46.1	12.5	100	1.6	1.7
Gabby Williams	10	1	16.2	6.6	0.5	1.5	2.0	1.9	0.7	0.1	40.6	11.8	72.7	1.5	1.2
Kahleah Copper	10	0	14.1	5.9	0.1	2.0	2.1	0.7	0.5	0.0	35.6	25.0	82.4	1.0	1.8
Astou Ndour	2	0	6.5	4.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	100	100	0.0	0.5	1.0
Katie Lou Samuelson	3	0	13.3	2.3	0.0	1.7	1.7	1.0	0.7	0.0	33.3	20.0	100	0.3	1.3
Chloe Jackson	3	0	6.3	1.3	0.3	0.3	0.7	1.0	1.3	0.0	28.6	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.3
Jamierra Faulkner	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Victoria Macaulay	3	0	2.3	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Seattle

PLAYER	G	GS	MPG	PPG	OREB	DREB	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	TO	PF
Natasha Howard	12	12	31.1	18.9	3.0	6.2	9.2	1.8	1.9	1.7	44.6	18.8	79.7	2.8	3.0
Jewell Loyd	12	12	29.7	15.8	0.5	2.6	3.1	2.5	1.8	0.2	38.7	30.4	95.0	2.3	1.2
Jordin Canada	9	8	29.9	9.0	0.3	2.1	2.4	5.0	2.9	0.3	34.5	20.0	69.2	3.1	1.7
Alysha Clark	9	8	28.6	8.2	1.2	4.6	5.8	2.8	0.8	0.9	42.9	46.2	80.0	1.2	2.1
Mercedes Russell	12	8	24.6	6.3	2.6	3.8	6.4	0.6	0.8	0.4	56.9	0.0	76.9	0.9	2.3
Shavonte Zellous	9	3	17.7	5.4	0.0	1.3	1.3	1.7	0.3	0.2	39.6	18.2	75.0	1.4	1.6
Crystal Langhorne	12	4	19.7	5.3	0.9	2.4	3.3	1.3	0.4	0.4	41.4	33.3	68.8	1.1	0.8
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis	12	4	14.5	5.2	0.2	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.5	0.1	44.4	33.3	100	1.1	1.5
Sami Whitcomb	11	0	15.0	5.0	0.1	1.0	1.1	2.1	0.5	0.0	35.8	33.3	100	1.0	1.7
Courtney Paris	8	0	5.8	0.3	0.3	0.9	1.1	0.4	0.4	0.3	100	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.5
Blake Dietrick	5	1	10.0	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.6	1.2	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	50.0	0.8	1.0
Sue Bird	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Breanna Stewart	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

The Skinny

Chicago plays with a fairly short bench typically, with just eight players logging more than three minutes in the last six games. As a result of that and the team's uptempo play, the Sky produce plenty of fantasy-friendly stat lines. The Storm's defensive efficiency rates among the best in the league, which may dampen the outlook slightly. Based on opponent averages for guards, there's very little to like about the matchup for Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley on Friday. The Storm allow the fewest rebounds and assists in the league to opposing guards, along with the second-fewest free-throw attempts (5.6). Opposing centers are the only ones to have significant success, tallying 10.6 rebounds per contest this season. That could bode well for Jantel Lavendar, who has supplied seven or more boards in the last five games, to notch a number of boards again Friday.

Chicago's fast pace should bode well for the Seattle players as well. The Sky have been particularly vulnerable to forwards, with opposing bigs averaging 27.3 points per game (fourth in the league) and attempting 6.7 free throws per game (third). Natasha Howard checks all of those boxes, leading the team with 4.9 free-throw attempts per game and 18.9 points per contest. However, with Jewell Loyd out for the foreseeable future, the Sky will likely be keying on Howard as the team's primary scorer. Jordin Canada returned from a three-game absence due to a knee injury to play 26 minutes and figures to see her role expand further Friday. She tops the board for budgetary value difference in favor of FanDuel.

Indiana Fever at Phoenix Mercury

Injuries

Note: All return dates are just estimates

Indiana

Name	Pos	Injury	Status	Return
Victoria Vivians	G	Knee	SUSP-INJ	4/1/2020

Phoenix

Name	Pos	Injury	Status	Return
Diana Taurasi	G	Back	GTD	6/28/2019
Yvonne Turner	G	Not Injury Related	OUT	7/5/2019

Vegas Odds: Phoenix -5.5 (Open: Phoenix -6) Over/Under: 153.5 (Open: 155)

2019 Player Stats

Indiana

PLAYER	G	GS	MPG	PPG	OREB	DREB	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	TO	PF
Kelsey Mitchell	12	12	27.3	14.8	0.3	1.3	1.6	2.3	0.5	0.1	36.6	35.0	87.5	1.3	1.9
Erica Wheeler	12	12	25.5	12.8	0.1	2.3	2.3	5.8	1.0	0.2	50.0	46.3	95.5	3.4	2.3
Candice Dupree	12	12	31.8	11.6	1.1	5.7	6.8	2.3	0.3	0.5	48.1	0.0	86.7	1.6	1.1
Natalie Achonwa	10	8	23.8	11.0	1.5	3.9	5.4	1.6	0.6	1.1	59.7	0.0	90.0	0.8	3.1
Tiffany Mitchell	12	0	24.0	10.7	0.9	2.8	3.7	1.8	0.6	0.3	36.1	25.9	91.5	1.9	2.5
Teaira McCowan	12	4	18.7	6.1	3.0	4.1	7.1	0.1	0.5	1.8	46.7	0.0	65.4	1.1	3.4
Kennedy Burke	9	0	12.3	5.6	0.7	0.3	1.0	0.4	0.6	0.2	47.2	46.7	81.8	0.7	1.0
Betnijah Laney	12	12	27.8	5.1	1.9	3.3	5.2	1.6	1.9	0.3	31.7	20.8	50.0	1.8	1.8
Paris Kea	3	0	6.0	3.3	0.0	0.3	0.3	1.0	0.0	0.3	57.1	100	50.0	1.0	0.0
Shenise Johnson	5	0	11.0	2.2	0.4	1.6	2.0	0.8	0.4	0.0	25.0	0.0	50.0	0.4	0.6
Stephanie Mavunga	8	0	9.6	1.3	0.8	1.3	2.0	0.3	0.4	0.3	33.3	0.0	100	0.3	2.0
Erica McCall	5	0	7.8	0.8	1.0	1.6	2.6	0.4	0.0	0.2	16.7	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.8
Victoria Vivians	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Phoenix

PLAYER	G	GS	MPG	PPG	OREB	DREB	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	TO	PF
DeWanna Bonner	8	8	34.9	20.9	1.6	6.6	8.3	3.4	1.6	0.6	42.1	31.4	95.1	1.9	1.1
Brittney Griner	8	8	35.1	16.4	2.4	5.0	7.4	2.3	1.0	1.8	45.5	0.0	76.0	3.5	3.8
Leilani Mitchell	6	1	26.0	11.8	0.2	2.5	2.7	3.7	0.5	0.2	45.1	47.2	72.7	0.8	3.2
Briann January	8	8	31.0	8.4	0.1	1.4	1.5	3.6	1.6	0.0	44.0	47.6	86.7	1.4	2.1
Essence Carson	8	6	23.0	7.9	0.8	2.0	2.8	1.3	0.6	0.6	38.2	38.9	87.5	0.8	1.5
Yvonne Turner	7	7	23.3	5.6	0.4	2.6	3.0	3.1	0.9	0.1	33.3	23.5	87.5	2.6	1.4
Sancho Lyttle	7	2	14.4	2.7	0.7	2.1	2.9	0.0	0.7	0.3	34.6	0.0	25.0	0.4	1.6
Camille Little	3	0	9.7	2.3	0.7	0.7	1.3	0.3	0.3	0.0	40.0	0.0	100	0.3	1.7
Alanna Smith	7	0	11.1	1.9	0.9	1.7	2.6	0.3	0.4	0.3	20.8	20.0	50.0	0.9	1.9
Sophie Cunningham	6	0	9.2	0.7	0.3	1.7	2.0	0.0	0.2	0.2	14.3	16.7	50.0	0.8	1.2
Brianna Turner	7	0	2.7	0.3	0.1	0.6	0.7	0.1	0.1	0.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.6
Diana Taurasi	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

The Skinny

After owning the league's worst record last season, Indiana has gotten off to a respectable 5-7 start through 12 games. Natalie Achonwa returned to a full workload last time out, but it didn't come at the expense of the emerging Teaira McCowan, who is averaging 10.3 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and 1.3 steals in the last four games. It looks like Erica Wheeler and Shenise Johnson may lose some minutes as a result, though it may also work to give Candice Dupree more of a break after she was forced into some heavy minutes previously. The Phoenix are particularly vulnerable to the three-ball, allowing opposing guards to shoot a lights-out 46.3 percent from beyond the arc. Kelsey Mitchell paces the team with 80 three-points attempts and Erica Wheeler checks in second, so those to could earn some added value. Phoenix also allows the fourth-most and a slate-high 16.1 rebounds to forwards (fourth in the league), which bodes well for rebound machine McCowan.

The two teams play at two of the three slowest paces in the league, but they also rank third and fourth worst in terms of defensive efficiency. Indiana's defensive struggles lie mainly in the frontcourt, with opposing bigs (forward and center) accounting for more than half of the opposition's scoring and both positions individually ranking third in terms of opposition scoring. This works out incredibly well for the Mercury's two best healthy players, DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner. The pair have scored in double digits a combined nine times (out of 10 possible) in the last five games. A similar scenario will likely play out Friday, with Leilani Mitchell likely set to see big minutes again with Yvonne Turner gone overseas.