2 Best WNBA First Basket Props for Monday 7/14/25

Over a 40-minute WNBA game, a lot can happen, but the action gets underway right at the opening tip-off.

And, although the first basket of the game is a small piece to the puzzle of the eventual winner, we can dig into usage and tip-off trends to examine the WNBA first basket markets at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. All injury news comes via the official WNBA player news wire.

WNBA First Basket Picks and Props for Tonight

Minnesota Lynx at Chicago Sky

Ariel Atkins (+850)

With Kamilla Cardoso back for opening tips, the Chicago Sky are rating out as favorites for tonight's first possession in the opening matchup.

There's a smaller, 68-possession sample with tonight's starting five sharing the floor this year for Chicago that we can dig into -- according to PBPStats.

In it, Ariel Atkins has a 26.7% usage rate but an even better 28.8% field goal attempt rate.

Even when scaling back out to examine larger shooting trends, Atkins remains a relevant shot-taker for this offense, and Atkins has taken four first shot attempts for Chicago, tied for a team high.

In total, Atkins has averaged 3.2 first-quarter shot attempts for the Sky, trailing just Angel Reese's 3.8.

Phoenix Mercury at Golden State Valkyries

Sami Whitcomb (+650)

This game has a tight 1.5-point spread in Golden State's favor, yet the opening tipoff odds are a bit more skewed toward Phoenix, according to my model.

With that, it's hard not to look at Alyssa Thomas (+400) in another game without Satou Sabally. In the last two games without Sabally, Thomas has taken 8 and 24 field goal attempts, but Sami Whitcomb (+650) has taken 19 and 9, too.

Whitcomb has averaged 5.0 first-quarter field goal attempts in this sample, besting Thomas' 4.5.

Zooming out to a larger sample, Whitcomb's shot distributions still put value on her to get the first bucket tonight at +650.

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