It turns out rest isn’t everything in the WNBA. The Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces both lost Wednesday to teams who were playing the second of back-to-back games as well as their third game in four days. Even so, both teams far surpassed their season averages for points scored, so it probably worked out for you if you played Kayla McBride, A’ja Wilson or Victoria Vivians. That being said, I missed out on some strong fantasy plays by avoiding teams who had played the night before, so I will probably be more willing to consider some of those players this time around.
We have two more teams on the second of back-to-backs for Friday’s slate in the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks. The Liberty have dropped to 11th in the WNBA standings with four straight losses, and it would be pretty surprising if they picked up a win over Chicago, who looks much better with Stefanie Dolson back from injury. The Sparks have split their last two games with Nneka Ogwumike out, and they are on the road against Las Vegas Friday. We will be keeping a close eye on the injuries to Ogwumike, Briann January and Tiffany Hayes, as their absences would open up more playing time for some cheap upside plays.
| Player | FanDuel Price | DraftKings Price | Comments |
| Brittney Griner, F, PHO | $ 8,700 | $ 12,700 | Brittney Griner is averaging 16.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 4.0 blocks over her last three games. |
| Sylvia Fowles, F, MIN | $ 8,600 | $ 13,000 | Atlanta is still allowing the most rebounds in the league this season, and their defense inside should take a hit with Elizabeth Williams out. |
| A'ja Wilson, F, LV | $ 8,200 | $ 12,500 | Wilson has at least 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in four of her last five games. She had 10 points and seven rebounds in her other game. There are other forwards I trust more for cash games, but you can't deny Wilson's upside in another home game against a team that played the night before. |
| Candace Parker, F, LA | $ 8,100 | $ 12,900 | Parker is averaging 28.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists over the last two games with Nneka Ogwumike out. |
| Angel McCoughtry, F, ATL | $ 7,600 | $ 11,500 | McCoughtry's run of great games with Tiffany Hayes out ended Wednesday, but she still led the Dream in field goal attempts despite shooting 1-11. She will almost certainly bounce back despite a tough matchup against Minnesota. |
| Chelsea Gray, G, LA | $ 7,200 | $ 10,100 | Chelsea Gray has taken at least 13 shots in each of the two games Nneka Ogwumike has missed. She had taken that many shots in just one her last nine games. |
| Courtney Vandersloot, G, CHI | $ 7,000 | $ 9,500 | With Stefanie Dolson finally back playing 25+ minutes per game, Courtney Vandersloot is averaging 11.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 11.5 assists and 2.0 steals over her last two games. |
| Jessica Breland, F, ATL | $ 6,800 | $ 8,600 | I expect Breland and Damiris Dantas to split most of Elizabeth Williams's minutes. Breland's price is as low as it's ever been after she played a season-low 20 minutes Wednesday. |
| Stefanie Dolson, F, CHI | $ 5,800 | $ 8,200 | Dolson still hasn't played to the level she reached in 2017, but she has been much better since returning from her foot injury. She feels safe for cash games but I like her upside as well. |
| Kelsey Mitchell, G, IND | $ 5,500 | $ 8,000 | Only Connecticut has allowed opponents to shoot a higher percentage on threes than the Mercury, and that's not likely to improve if Leilani Mitchell plays 30+ minutes. Kelsey Mitchell is bound to bounce back after shooting 29.4 percent over her last four games. |
| Tamera Young, G, LV | $ 5,400 | $ 6,300 | I don't want to pay Kayla McBride's price coming off a career-high 38 points against Dallas, so that doesn't leave many options to take advantage of a nice matchup for the Aces. Young struggled against Dallas but she still has at least eight field goal attempts in each of her last nine games. |
| Rebekkah Brunson, F, MIN | $ 5,000 | $ 6,900 | Brunson has scored at least 22 fantasy points on DraftKings in each of her last four games, though her price is finally starting to reflect her production. |
| Diamond DeShields, G, CHI | $ 4,700 | $ 7,700 | DeShields is coming off her first career double-double in which she scored 23 points on 24 shots against Atlanta. She could easily turn around and score five points Friday, but this could just be the new norm now that everyone is healthy. |
| Sancho Lyttle, F, PHO | $ 4,500 | $ 6,200 | After being inconsistent at the start of the season, Lyttle has looked like a strong cash play of late. She has had at least 11 points and four rebounds in each of her last two games. |
| Leilani Mitchell, G, PHO | $ 3,500 | $ 3,700 | Briann January is questionable with a foot injury, and Leilani Mitchell has a chance to play 30+ minutes if January is out. Phoenix has the early game Friday, so we should know January's status before lineups lock. |
| Damiris Dantas, F, ATL | $ 3,400 | $ 3,700 | Dantas has played at least 20 minutes in each of her last two games, and she is averaging 9.0 points and 3.5 rebounds. That is probably her floor for this game, as she should see more minutes with Elizabeth Williams out. |