Wednesday, Sept. 18
Wings plus 8 at Aces
The WNBA regular season ends Thursday. There are a number of playoff scenarios. This is one of them.
Las Vegas can tie Connecticut for the No. 3 playoff seed if the Sun lose to the Sky and the Aces beat the Wings.
However, the Sun aren't going to lose to the Sky. Connecticut is currently a 13-point home favorite for good reason. Not only do the Sun have motivation, but Chicago has packed in its season. The Sky are 1-4 since losing Angel Reese for the season. They also could be missing Chennedy Carter, their leading scorer and best player. She's been sidelined with a foot injury.
Chicago is 2-11 in its last 13 games. The Sky have dropped four in a row with their average losing margin being 17.2 points during this span.
The Sky-Sun game is being played three hours ahead of the Wings-Aces game. That means Las Vegas will be aware of the result. A Connecticut victory renders this matchup meaningless for Las Vegas since the Aces will then be locked into the No. 4 seed.
So there would be no incentive for the Aces. It would be prudent for Aces coach Becky Hammon to rest and even sit out her starters, who have logged big minutes this season, in particular superstar A'Ja Wilson. There would be no reason to play Wilson, who has been banged up. Wilson already has set WNBA single-season records in points and rebounds this season.
Dallas has been highly competitive in its past two games losing to Seattle by two points as an 11 1/2-point 'dog and getting nipped by one point to Indiana as a 9 1/2-point 'dog.
The Wings would love to close their forgettable season with a victory against the two-time defending WNBA champion Aces. The Wings are the fourth-highest scoring team in the league averaging 84.2 points.
Dallas' downfall is having the league's worst defense. But if the Aces play their reserves, the Wings' vulnerable defense won't be so exposed because Las Vegas has a weak bench. The Aces' No. 7 through 10 rotation players combined to average only nine points. None of them are good scorers.
I am 48-33-3 on my premium/free WNBA plays this season, including 10-2-1 on my last 13 premium WNBA plays. You can find my plays, packages and records here: https://pregame.com/pros/stephen-nover.
Best of luck and no bad beats!