The NBA Cup has been a pretty successful addition to the schedule in recent years – turned out that the 2025 Cup Final was also a preview of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs. The WNBA version, the Commissioner's Cup, has been going longer. That title game is tonight. as Las Vegas, representing the Western Conference, visits New York, representing the East, at 7 ET on Prime Video, but the Aces might be without the league's best player.
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Aces vs. Liberty WNBA single-game parlay
- Las Vegas alt +5.5
- Alt Under 184.5
FanDuel SGP price: +108
It's the only game on the WNBA slate between Monday and Wednesday, but it does not count in any fashion toward the regular season statistically (team or player), much like the NBA Cup title game does not. All other Commissioner's Cup and NBA Cup games do count toward regular-season stats.
It's not out of the question that this could be a WNBA Finals preview, with Las Vegas holding the league's second-best mark at 14-5 and New York fifth at 12-8. Either the Aces (+350 to win it all) or Liberty (+330) have won the past four WNBA titles, and they met in the 2024 Finals.
We also have a pair of legends meeting in three-time league MVP A'ja Wilson of Las Vegas, the current -260 favorite for a fourth, and two-time winner Breanna Stwart (+3000) of New York. They have combined to win the past four regular-season MVPs.
In Sunday's eight-point win in Chicago, Wilson put up 30 points and 15 rebounds for her 99th career game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. She trails only Tina Charles (109) for the most in league history, and it was Wilson's WNBA-record eighth game with 30/15. It was her 43rd career 30-point game, which ranks No. 2 all-time behind Diana Taurasi's 54.
Wilson did appear to tweak an ankle in the fourth quarter going for a loose ball but got up under her own power and jogged off the court to the tunnel. She would eventually return to the game but is listed questionable tonight. The 29-year-old has missed only six games over the past seven seasons. Sunday marked the seventh time this season the Aces have reached triple-digit points. Guard Chennedy Carter (14.1 PPG) played for the first time after missing five games with an undisclosed illness.
Las Vegas is third in scoring at 90.7 PPG, and Wilson is first at 25.7 PPG. She leads with six 30-point games and is set at Over 24.5 points tonight along with 9.5 rebounds. The Aces are 1-1 all-time in Commissioner's Cup title games, beating Chicago in 2022 and losing to New York the next year. No franchise has won this twice.
The Liberty entering having lost for the fourth time in five games Sunday, 76-67 at Golden State. Their 65 points were a season low, and they trailed by at least 20 points for the second game this season
Stewart challenged her team to play harder afterward: "You can't play with heart and play with effort just when things are going good. It's really the moments when you're at the lowest. And this team -- we're obviously not a finished product, but this wasn't a great showing, especially coming off of a loss."
Liberty forward Satou Sabally was placed in concussion protocol last Thursday and will not return for this one. Sabally is third on the team in scoring at 10.8 PPG. New York has one of the top rookies in French guard Pauline Astier. She has become only the fourth player in the last 10 seasons to record at least 200 points, 75 assists, 60 rebounds and 15 steals through her first 20 career games. Caitlin Clark was another who did that. The Liberty are 1-1 all-time in the Commissioner's Cup final as well.
The only team New York -- which is under a first-year head coach in Chris DeMarco -- has beaten since June 19 is Las Vegas, as the Liberty were 87-76 road upset winners on June 23 (Sabally was hurt in that one). They made five more 3-pointers than the Aces. Stewart scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half, and Sabrina Ionescu had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Wilson had 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals in a losing effort.
"I feel like we'll have a greater sense of urgency coming back playing them in New York next week," Aces coach Becky Hammon said at the time.
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I will take Coach Hammon at her word that this matters to her club and assume that Wilson plays. Models I have checked generally have the Aces winning 88-86 with the assumption that Wilson will be ready. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
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