To no one’s surprise, the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA are playing winning basketball and beating up on the competition.
They have won four in a row. But the question is: Are they a good bet?
On Sunday, they were laying 17 points vs. the Minnesota Lynx and led by nine points at halftime. But they shut down the Lynx in the second half, outscoring them 39-21 to cover by 13.5 points. That almost qualifies as a laugher.
On Wednesday, the Aces were laying 19 points vs. the Phoenix Mercury and bolted to a 57-40 halftime lead. They padded the lead with a 30-20 outburst in the third quarter, but let off the gas in the fourth quarter when the Mercury outscored them, 19-12. If you’ve misplaced your solar calculator and are counting on your fingers and other digits, that brought the final score at 99-79 — a cover by one point. And credit to the oddsmakers for putting up a good number that made the outcome close at least on the betting line.
So the Aces are now 11-1, easily the best record in the WNBA. And they improved their against-the-spread record, however slightly, to a pedestrian 7-5.
“We’re stopping teams at a good clip,” Hammon told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We play fast, so it’s more possessions of being really good, so creating those habits is really good for us.”
If you’re trying to make heads or tails of the Aces’ Over/Under record, they are 7-5 Over/Under after Wednesday’s game.
The Seattle Storm still own the WNBA’s best ATS record at 7-4-1. Another interesting trend: the Washington Mystics are 1-10-1 to the Over/Under.
The Aces next host the Indiana Fever for games on Saturday and Monday.
Elsewhere:
— Who’s hot, who’s not: Remember that seven-game winning streak in early June by the Oakland-Tropicana site-Las Vegas-A’s? It’s ancient history.
The A’s have now matched that and then some with an eight-gaming losing streak. They have scored 271 runs and allowed 481 for an eye-popping run differential of -210 — by far the biggest negative run differential in Major League Baseball. They also own the lowest batting average and the highest ERA in the majors, according to ESPN.
The Kansas City Royals, who have 21 wins or two more than the A’s, have a run differential of only -118. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Tampa Ray, after its power surge to start the season, has a run differential of +145.
If you’re thinking, well, let’s just play the on the run line (+1.5 runs) on the A’s, nice try. They are 35-42 on the run line for the season.
“The offense got us the lead and unfortunately, we were unable to hold onto it,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay told reporters after Wednesday night’s 7-6 loss to Cleveland. “Tito (Francona) fights and his team plays the game the same way, fighting for everything they get.”
On the other end, the Cincinnati Reds are the hottest team in the big leagues. They take an 11-game winning streak into a home game with the Atlanta Braves, owner of an eight-gaming winning mark, on Friday, on And they are +130 underdogs for the game.
— NBA futures: The Boston Celtics are back on the leaderboard to win the NBA title in the 2023-24 season — at least at BetMGM, which prices them at +475 and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets at +500. But Caesars has reigning champion Denver Nuggets at +450 and the Celtics at +500.
The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks are next in line at +550 and +600, respectively at BetMGM. Caesars has both of those teams at +700.
Nuggets repeating? “I’ve got a crazy idea,” coach Michael Malone told Denver7 News at the Nuggets victory parade and rally, according to a story in The Sporting News. “I’m kinda crazy. I’m a little bit emotional. Let’s do this s–t again.”
— Fight Night in Florida: Josh Emmett squares off against Ilia Topuria in the featured featherweight bout at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday.
Topuria (13-0-0) is a heavy favorite at around -350. Emmett (18-3-0) is generally around +275 on the buyback.
Oddsmaker don’t anticipate a long fight. The Over/Under for rounds is at 2.5 with Under at -220.
Coverage of the main card will begin around noon.
