Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
We have two Friday games today in the W! Rookie sensation Caitlin Clark and reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston will travel to Atlanta to take on the Dream, who will be without their 2022 Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard, who turned her ankle in Wednesday’s loss to the Lynx.
Today, we will be going over our best bet from this two-game slate.
Indiana Fever Moneyline
-145, Caesars Sportsbook
As mentioned in the opener, the Dream are going to be without their best player and 2022 Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard, who suffered an ankle injury in Wednesday’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx. She did not return to that game and has already been ruled out for tonight, seemingly putting her out indefinitely. When you look at this Dream roster beyond Howard, it’s quite thin. While they have Allisha Gray and Tina Charles, the latter is nowhere close to her prime years, and their depth is quite thin beyond Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, Haley Jones and Aerial Powers. When these two teams met last week, the Fever won at home in a game that saw Howard post a team-high 26 points on 15 field goal attempts.
For the Fever, they’re on a bit of a roll, having won five of their last seven after starting the season 1-8, including three straight coming into tonight’s contest. This young group seems to be turning a corner, as they’ve posted their three highest team offensive ratings of the season during this three-game win streak. In their victory over the Dream last week, the Fever got a season-high 27 points out of Aliyah Boston, who is averaging 22.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.7 “stocks” per game during Indiana’s three-game streak (her season averages are 12.9, 7.9 and 2.0, respectively). Caitlin Clark contributed just seven points on 11 attempts in that win over Atlanta last week, so I’m quite pleased to see Indiana finding ways to win with floor performances from Clark.
The bottom line here is the absence of Howard, who contributes far too much on both ends of the floor, and her absence is significant in a game where you need your best defensive option to draw the Clark assignment.
Best Bet
Indiana ML
