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The Chicago Sky face the Las Vegas Aces. Our WNBA odds series has our Sky Aces prediction, odds and pick. Find out how to watch Sky Aces.
Have the Las Vegas Aces finally woken up? Have they finally gotten the message that their season and their WNBA title defense are slipping away, and that if they don't start playing with urgency and get the No. 4 seed for home-court advantage in the playoffs, they are going to fall well short in their push for a third straight title?
It's possible that the light has finally gone on for this team.
The 11-point win over the Atlanta Dream last Friday was a good start, but the Aces then went to Phoenix to face the Mercury in a game on Sunday which figured to be contentious. The Mercury had been caught in the standings by Caitlin Clark and the surging Indiana Fever. They had an incentive to play well, even though their status as a playoff team is assured due to the Chicago Sky's massive losing skid. Yet, while the game seemed to promise a close battle for all 40 minutes, the Aces — for one of the very few times this season — put their feet down and took the life out of an opponent early. Las Vegas slapped a 29-10 first quarter on the Mercury and basically held that margin for the rest of the game. Las Vegas actually bumped its lead into the mid-20s and then cruised home with zero drama whatsoever. Phoenix never got remotely close. Las Vegas stopped playing the wildly erratic and sometimes unfocused basketball which has marked most of the season. We have seen games in which A'Ja Wilson is begging for her teammates to help her out and do their jobs better. Wilson is the best player in the league, but has not received the help and production from her supporting cast needed to lift the Aces to top-tier status in the 2024 WNBA season. Sunday in Phoenix, however, every Las Vegas player was locked in and committed on defense. Did coach Becky Hammon suddenly start preaching about this? No. Maybe, however, the reality of being the two-time champions — and getting every opponent's best shot every night — has left this team mentally drained. Maybe now, with the playoffs not that far away, the Aces are making a conscious decision to lift their energy level and make the choice to fully invest in the season in ways they just didn't see as absolutely necessary before the Olympic break. It's true that being a defending champion is hard, and that playing with supreme intensity in every game is not going to happen. The Aces, though, have seemed to not shift into high gear so regularly that we have forgotten what this team looks like when all engines are firing. Sunday, we got a glimpse of that team, and it's certainly intriguing to wonder if the Aces might be finally putting — to use a classic Las Vegas-style image — all cards on the table as the playoffs come ever closer. We're only two weeks away from the end of the regular season. Vegas might be getting a winning hand once again.
Here are the Sky-Aces WNBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
WNBA Odds: Sky-Aces Odds
Chicago Sky: +12.5 (-106)
Moneyline: +570
Las Vegas Aces: -12.5 (-114)
Moneyline: -900
Over: 165.5 (-108)
Article Continues Below
Under: 165.5 (-112)
How To Watch Sky vs. Aces
Time: 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
TV: NBA TV, WNBA League Pass
*Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (Free Trial)*
Why The Sky Can Cover The Spread/Win
Chicago badly needs Chennedy Carter's scoring ability to balance out the team. The Sky do not have enough offense if Carter is out. She has missed the last few games due to being in health and safety protocols. She hasn't been cleared to play as of Tuesday morning (the morning of the game), but she has been upgraded to questionable for the game. If she can play, that's a massive lift for Chicago. Keep in mind that if Carter does play, she will have fresh legs, given that she has missed a few games and has not been subjected to the continued grind of the season the past week.
Why The Aces Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Aces are alive. This is the team we expected to see. This team — the one which thrashed Phoenix on Sunday — beats a weakened Chicago side by 20.
Final Sky-Aces Prediction & Pick
We needed to see the Aces give us reason to trust them. We have it now.
Final Sky-Aces Prediction & Pick: Aces -12.5
