The Indiana Fever are taking advantage of an easy part of the schedule and will look to notch their season-best fifth consecutive victory when they visit the struggling Portland Fire on Friday night. Indiana has beaten the last-place Seattle Storm twice and the next-to-last Connecticut Sun once during the run.

The Fever and Fire split two meetings earlier this season with Indiana winning by 17 at home and losing by 16 in Portland. That gives the Fire hope they can pull out a win after losing 13 of their past 18 contests.

The Dallas Wings will visit the Washington Mystics in what should be a competitive matchup. The woeful Storm visit the Dream and Atlanta should win in convincing fashion.

INDIANA FEVER AT PORTLAND FIRE

Kelsey Mitchell scored 28 points in Tuesday’s 105-95 win in Seattle and has scored 20 or more points in 12 consecutive games. Mitchell has knocked down at least three 3-pointers in all 12 games and her 23.5 scoring average ranks second in the WNBA behind Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson.

Caitlin Clark ranks third at 21.5 points per game and is averaging 30.3 points and 8.8 assists over the past four contests. Clark is listed as probable with a back injury but she played 33 minutes on Tuesday, her most since June 20.

The Fire are beginning a five-game homestand after falling 98-83 to the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday. Megan DiLeo – formerly Gustafson prior to her recent marriage – scored 21 and 20 points over the past two games and has been a bright spot with a career-best 12.8 scoring average to go with solid 55.7% shooting from the floor.

Kelsey Mitchell to score 24-plus points, -108 (DraftKings)

DALLAS WINGS AT WASHINGTON MYSTICS

The Wings have lost two of their past three games after a season-best six-game winning streak. They also are reeling a bit after blowing a 15-point lead in Wednesday’s 82-81 home loss against Atlanta.

Arike Ogunbowale had a stellar all-around game with 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals and she has tallied 20 or more points in five of the past six games. Paige Bueckers has averaged just 14 points the past two games after having more than 20 in nine of her previous 10 games.

The Mystics were routed 92-68 by the visiting Wings on May 18 but are now playing much better with wins in seven of their past 10 games. Sonia Citron had 22 points in Tuesday’s 92-84 home win over the Sun, while Kiki Iriafen (10 rebounds) notched her third straight double-digit outing on the boards.

Mystics plus 3.5 points spread, -115 (DraftKings)

SEATTLE STORM AT ATLANTA DREAM

The Dream have won four straight games after their rally over the Wings and will also be looking for Allisha Gray to continue her standout campaign. Gray scored 25 points against Dallas and has scored 20 or more in five of the past seven games.

Gray (career-best 19.3 points per game) and fellow guard Rhyne Howard (17.2) are a tough tandem to guard. The Storm, though, pressured Gray into 5-of-16 shooting in a 15-point home win earlier this season. In the rematch, Gray had 22 points in Atlanta’s 11-point home win.

Seattle is just 6-24 and has lost seven straight games and the team is making news for shaky behavior from team leadership. Co-owner Celeste Keaton was suspended from attending the next five home games after using profane language at two teenage girls who had a sign in appreciation of Fever standout Sophie Cunningham’s recent remarks that women’s sports should be solely for women. The sign that irked Keaton said, “Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls!”

Teams to score over 177.5 points, -112 (DraftKings)

The Chicago White Sox (57-51) and the Tampa Bay Rays (64-44) open a three-game series Friday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.

It’s a battle of two first-place teams, too, as the White Sox are two games clear of the second-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central Division, while the surprising Rays hold a 3.5-game advantage over the high-priced New York Yankees in the AL East.

Chicago just split a four-game set against the aforementioned Yankees at Rate Field Monday through Thursday. After dropping the first two games, the White Sox fought back to notch a pair of 1-run victories, including a 2-1 win on Thursday.

Tampa Bay took two of three games from the visiting Texas Rangers, including a 3-2 win in the series finale on Thursday. In fact, not only did the Under cash in all three games against Texas, the total has gone low in five consecutive outings for the Rays.

Since July 20, a span of 10 games, Tampa Bay pitching has been on fire. The Rays’ staff has allowed just 17 total runs, or 1.7 runs per game (RPG), so it’s not a surprise that the Under has connected in seven of the previous eight outings.

The White Sox hand the ball to RHP Erick Fedde (5-6, 4.25 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) in the series opener, while the Rays counter with RHP Nick Martinez (10-2, 2.45 ERA, 1.10 WHIP.

Fedde has been a little better of late, at least in terms of runs surrendered, but he hasn’t been capable of going deep into ball games. And, on the road, Fedde is just 3-5 with a 5.40 ERA and eight homers served up across 46 ⅔ IP across seven starts and 10 appearances.

The All-Start Martinez has been money at home, going 7-1 across 11 starts at The Trop, but his ERA is 2.78, slightly higher than his overall number.

Martinez doesn’t have a long history against most of the White Sox batters. He’ll need to steer clear of Andrew Benintendi, who is 3-for-7 (.429) with a home run and three RBI in their brief dealings. He is just one of four Chicago batters who have faced Martinez.

Still, Tampa Bay isn’t giving up anything, and we’re rolling with Martinez and the home team in this crucial series opener. Who would’ve thought the White Sox and Rays would have huge playoff implications back in the spring?

In addition to backing RAYS (-142) at a reasonable price as moderate favorites, we’re going to keep pounding the UNDER 8.5 (-122) is Tampa Bay games, especially when the number is at 8 or higher.

The Brooklyn Nets signed veteran center Moritz Wagner to a multi-year contract on Friday.

Terms were not released, but ESPN reported the deal was for two years and $19 million.

Wagner, 29, spent the past five-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic. The Nets are his fifth NBA team.

The 6-foot-11 Germany native averaged 6.9 points and 3.2 rebounds in 36 games off the Magic bench in 2025-26.

Wagner has career averages of 9.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 16.2 minutes in 399 games (57 starts) with the Los Angeles Lakers (2018-19), Washington Wizards (2019-21), Boston Celtics (2021) and Magic (2021-26).

He has shot 51.8% from the field and 80.8% from the free-throw line since being drafted by the Lakers in the first round (25th overall) out of Michigan in 2018.

Younger brother Franz Wagner has been with the Magic since they selected him with the No. 8 overall draft pick in 2021.

–Field Level Media