Aces vs. Sky WNBA odds: Las Vegas heavy favorite to set league record with 30th win Thursday
There are four #WNBA games on the schedule Thursday and history is on the line in the marquee matchup – shown on NBA TV at 8 p.m. ET – as Las Vegas visits Chicago. The #ALLINLV are easily the biggest favorites on the board at -14.5 and are poised to a league single-season record with their 30th victory.
At 29-4, Las Vegas has the best record in the WNBA, 3.5 games up on the New York Liberty, and the Aces clinched a playoff spot weeks ago. Those 29 victories are tied with the 2014 Phoenix Mercury for the most in league history. The Mercury did win the title that season, and Las Vegas is the -210 title favorite currently.
True, the WNBA schedules have changed over the years. It expanded to a 34-game season in 2003 and 40 for this year. Las Vegas has seven games left. Its winning percentage is .879. The best win percentage in league history belongs to the 1998 Houston Comets at .900 with a 27-3 regular-season mark. The Aces would have to win out and finish 36-4 to tie that.
The Aces have a +449 point differential this season, already 40 points better than any other team in WNBA history and a whopping 205 points better than second-place New York (+244). Las Vegas’ 23 wins by double digits are a league record and they have as many wins by at least 25 points (five) as the rest of the WNBA combined.
Reigning league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year A’ja Wilson tied a WNBA record with 53 points for Las Vegas in a 112-100 win in Atlanta on Tuesday. She is neck-and-neck with the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart to win 2023 MVP. Wilson is third in the league in scoring at 22.3 ppg, and Las Vegas is on pace to become the first team ever to have four different players average at least 15.0 ppg. It’s going to come down to Chelsea Gray, who is at 15.1.
An Aces win or a Connecticut loss to New York (7 p.m. ET) would clinch a Top 2 seed and home court advantage throughout at least the WNBA semifinals for Las Vegas.
At 13-20, Chicago sits ninth overall in the WNBA standings – only the Top 8 make the playoffs. The #skytown did play one of their best games of the season Tuesday in routing visiting Seattle 102-79 to snap a five-game losing streak. It was Chicago's first victory since scoring 104 points in back-to-back games against Dallas in early August.
Las Vegas leads the season series 2-0, winning 93-80 at home on June 11 and 107-95 in the Windy City on July 25. Early consensus has about a 65% spread lean on Chicago and 70% to the over 168.5 points. The over is 4-1 in the past five meetings in Chicago, and the SBIA model has a HUGE lean on the total.
Following Thursday’s game, the Aces will head to Washington, D.C. and to the White House specifically as Vice President Kamala Harris will welcome the 2022 WNBA champions on Friday.