Portland Fire vs Seattle Storm prediction — the Three Pundits debate (WNBA)

Two road wins. All season. That is Seattle's entire away record, and tonight the board asks them to give points at the Moda Center. Come on. And it's not like these two haven't met. Portland have beaten them twice already, by five here in June and by five again up in Seattle in July. Portland went into their building and won. Now Seattle come to Portland's and they're the favourite? Carla Leite is fit, Emily Engstler is fit, and the two Portland lost for the season weren't leading this team in anything. They just put ninety-seven on Toronto.

Careful. Portland aren't good either. They've lost seven of their last ten. And look at who has been beating Seattle. Minnesota, Indiana and New York, twice each. Some of those were three-point games. That's a bad team losing to good ones, not a bad team being bad. But a road favourite that has won twice all year away is a stretch. Malonga is real, and Portland leaked a hundred and twelve to Indiana last week. I'll take Portland, lightly.

The rest gap everyone's pricing isn't what it looks like. Portland played Thursday evening, not last night. It's one day against two, not a back-to-back walking into a rested team. So what's actually left to justify a road favourite? Seattle's losses being respectable. That's it. Against that you've got the head-to-head, the home floor, and an away record of two wins. On the shape of the bet: the cushion is the obvious thought, but points cushions cost real money here and a game like this doesn't land inside a point and a half often enough to pay for one. Take them straight. I make Portland about a 52% shot to win it and Bovada are 2.05.

Portland 92-85.

88-84.