WNBA Free Picks, Predictions, Odds

The season isn't even two games old for the Wings and already they have serious injury concerns. All-Star Satou Sabally is out recovering from a shoulder injury. Starting guard Jaelyn Brown is out with a broken nose and now it's been discovered that Natasha Howard will miss three-to-six weeks after breaking her foot in Dallas', 87-79, opening game win against Chicago this past Wednesday.

Howard is arguably one of the 25 best players in the league.

However, I can't get behind the rebuilding Sky in this rematch. But I can get involved with the Under considering the total is much higher than the closing 162 it was for Wednesday's game.

The teams did not shoot well in that first game. The Sky, though, is more of a defensive team having traded some of their scorers. The Wings have to rely even more on ball hog Arike Ogunbowale with Howard out.

The Sky are dealing with injuries themselves along with plenty of roster movement and a first-year coach in Teresa Weatherspoon. It's going to take them time to jell, especially on the offensive side.

Phoenix was the worst team in the WNBA last season going 9-31 but the Mercury had a competitive opening effort against the 2-time defending champions, losing only 89-80 against the Aces on Tuesday. Diana Taurasi had a lot to say this spring ahead of the season and while Taurasi is one of the greatest players in league history, her last title came a decade ago in 2014.

She had shooting results well below her career averages last season, while the Mercury were 8-18 in the games she played, now at age 41 Taurasi is well-past her prime. The opening night numbers were misleading as well as the Aces shot just over 20 percent from 3-point range while Phoenix shot nearly 42 percent, yet the Mercury still lost by nine points and were not a threat to win the game in the 4th quarter.

Kahleah Copper had a strong first game with the Mercury, but this is a team that could take some time to sort through numerous off-season changes with Natasha Cloud and Rebecca Allen also newcomers to the starting roster. Allen is questionable for Saturday while the team still has Brittney Griner out of action on an unknown timetable.

Atlanta is an up-and-coming team that looked like a contender midseason before slumping late in the year and taking a quick exit in the playoffs against Dallas. The Dream had an impressive win in the opener over the Sparks and the roster has good continuity from last season while adding Tina Charles to patrol the paint with Charles posting 14 rebounds and 21 points in the opener looking like the MVP contender that she was for many years, winning the award back in 2012 but looking renewed following disappointing seasons the past two years on losing teams.

Atlanta was tested in the opener in Los Angeles but had a 50-30 edge in the paint while having more success even in fewer attempts at the free throw line. While the rookie class is grabbing a lot attention, the Dream are an overlooked team that is likely to take a step forward this season and should have more potential than an aging Mercury team with a patchwork roster of new additions.