WNBA Best Bets for August 12: Can the Sparks Beat the Liberty?
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Spread Astaire
- August 12, 2025
The WNBA season is in the home stretch. Every game matters as these teams fight for a crucial playoff position, and these players are giving their all on the floor every night. We don’t need to worry about handicapping motivation at this time of the year—especially when the lines at top sportsbooks reflect that intensity!
So, let’s take a deep dive into each team’s strengths and weaknesses to do a proper handicap and then find winning WNBA picks.
Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever
Tuesday, August 12, 2025 – 07:30 PM EDT at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Bueckers Brings Hope, But Fever Bring the Heat
The Dallas Wings are looking ahead to next season, but they have a good reason to be excited about the future of their franchise. Number one overall draft pick and potential Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers has been everything the Wings had hoped for and more. Paige Bueckers is averaging 18.5 points per game and 5.3 assists per game. Bueckers is a solid scorer and playmaker.
In spite of finding their potential franchise cornerstone, the Dallas Wings still do not have enough depth, athleticism. and defensive ability to compete in the WNBA. The Wings are mired in a five-game losing streak and are only 2-8 over the last 10 games. The team has also struggled on the road and they are only 3-12 away from home this season. They have a -5.1 point differential.
The Indiana Fever know not to overlook the Dallas Wings, however. The Indiana Fever are right in the thick of the playoff race and will be putting everything into tonight’s game. The Fever are currently tied with the Las Vegas Aces at 18-14 and have a chance to catch the Phoenix Mercury for a top four seed in the WNBA playoffs.
The Fever are 18-14 on the year and have won three of their last five games, including a win over the Dallas Wings in Dallas on August 1st by the score of 88-78.
Kelsey Mitchell led the way in that game with 23 points and it was another sign that the Indiana Fever can get wins even without Caitlin Clark in the lineup. Clark is listed as a game time decision for tonight’s game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she sat again. There’s no reason to rush her back as the Indiana Fever have found chemistry and cohesion; winning six of their last eight games.
Fever Ready to Burn the Wings
The Fever are dealing with a multitude of injuries besides the one that is sidelining Caitlin Clark. They also lost guards Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald for the rest of the season. The Indiana Fever signed guard Odyssey Sims to a hardship contract to make up for the glut of injuries they have suffered at guard this season.
WNBA teams are eligible to sign people to a hardship contract when they don’t have a minimum of 10 players on their roster. A player must be missing for more than 3 weeks before a team can be granted a hardship contract.
In spite of the injuries, the Indiana Fever are focused and using the “next player up” mentality in order to still be successful. They also have an opportunity against one of the weaker teams in the league tonight because the Wings are more worried about developing younger players than they are trying to win ball games.
This gives us an opportunity to get the Indiana Fever at a discount. One team is focused on winning no matter the cost, the other is focused on developing young talent even if it’s at the expense of current matchups and strategies. Even though the Fever are missing top players they are still the better, more cohesive team. Take the Indiana Fever.
New York Liberty vs. Los Angeles Sparks
Tuesday, August 12, 2025 – 10:00 PM EDT at Crypto.com Arena
New York’s Road Woes
The WNBA defending Champion New York Liberty are currently in second place in the league with a record of 20-11 tied with the Atlanta Dream. The Liberty are behind the team that they defeated in the WNBA finals last season, the Minnesota Lynx.
The Liberty were expected to dominate the league this season, but have had to work through some unexpected hardships. Regardless, the Liberty still are a well coached team that is chock full of talent. The Liberty will be a danger to anybody in the WNBA playoffs.
The Liberty will be looking to get back to their winning ways after falling to the Minnesota Lynx in a prime time game on Sunday afternoon. The Lynx made it look easy with an 83-71 win. That ended a three-game win streak for the Liberty.
However, those wins were against the Dallas Wings and the Connecticut Sun, the two worst teams in the league. The Liberty are 7-7 on the road this season and they have a point differential +5.5 on the year.
Sparks Heating Up
The Los Angeles Sparks are playing good basketball right now and come into this game as winners of four of their last five games. Their most recent game was a high scoring 94-91 win over the Seattle Storm.
The Sparks have been putting up points and scored over 100 points in three of their last four wins. The Sparks are getting hot at the right time.
Even though the Sparks are only 15-16 on the year, they are 8-2 over their last 10, and the way they are playing, they could be a potential roadblock for one of the top seeds in the playoffs.
We should see an excellent effort from both teams tonight as both need the win for a strong position in the playoff standings. Both teams will also be motivated to make a statement against a potential playoff foe. The Sparks will keep this close. Take the Los Angeles Sparks.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
