How to bet Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut and the Indiana Fever season opener against the Sun

Caitlin Clark's W debut is here. Bet on it.

It’s been a short month since Caitlin Clark last suited up for Iowa in the NCAA national championship game, but her much-anticipated WNBA debut has arrived.

Clark and the Indiana Fever play at the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday evening in one of four games on the slate for the WNBA’s opening night. And though they’re underdogs against the veteran Sun, they’ll actually be the smallest underdogs of all the teams playing despite how reliant they are on young talent.

The Sun are favored by 6.5 points over Indiana, with -275 moneyline odds to +220 for the Fever at BetMGM.

Without having the benefit of knowing exactly how soon and how well this new-look Fever team will gel, my favorite bet is for the total to go under 167.5.

Though Connecticut and Indiana were both top-five in offensive rating a season ago, they ranked 10th and 11th, respectively, in pace. Clark should help the Fever in that regard, but Connecticut’s stingy defense will still make it tough for them to run up a high total.

Regardless, Clark does bring elite deep shooting to the team and a ton of experience in big games, which is why I don’t expect her to be phased much by the hype of her debut. For that reason, I’ll take Clark to make over 3.5 three-pointers at -140 odds while falling just under 20.5 points at -110 odds. I think she goes over 6.5 assists and under 4.5 rebounds.

Unfortunately for the Fever, the huge anticipation for this game and sold out crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena will also bring out the best in a Sun team with three-straight seasons of at least 25 wins. For that reason, I expect Connecticut to spoil Clark’s debut and come out on top.

Pick: Sun 85, Fever 78

Caitlin Clark: 19 points, 4 three-pointers, 4 rebounds, 7 assists