WNBA Playoffs Preview: Aces Look to Clinch Home-Court Advantage Against Injured Storm

Two teams destined for a first-round playoff matchup will fight for home-court advantage when the Seattle Storm hosts the Las Vegas Aces tonight.

The Aces are on a roll, winning seven of their last eight games and having clinched at least the #4 seed in the playoffs with a win against the Storm. The Aces will look to continue their winning ways in this game, and it will be a good indicator of whether or not they are ready for the postseason.

The Aces have been able to rack up wins despite not having the season they were expected to. With a win tonight at Seattle (10:00 pm ET, NBA TV), the two-time defending champions will win for the eighth time in nine games.

However, Seattle is down its top scorer, which will lead to putting more effort into defense to keep things close. Don't expect a pretty game.

The Storm have won their last four games, which has kept them in the hunt for the #4 seed, but they need a win tonight to keep those hopes alive with a rare home win over Las Vegas.

Seattle has a history of struggling against Las Vegas, losing seven of their last nine home regular season games against the Aces. The Aces have won 9 of the last 10 games against the Storm and have covered 7 of those games.

The Aces are 7-1 SU and 7-0-1 ATS in their last eight games, and they are 5-2 SU and 6-1 ATS on the road this season against their fellow top-six teams. The Aces have done well in road games against the better teams in the league and even managed to cover against the Liberty at Barclays Center nine days ago when Wilson missed the game due to injury.

The Storm, meanwhile, are 4-3 SU and 3-4 ATS in seven home games against their fellow top-six teams. That isn’t all that bad, but they are 2-7 SU and 4-5 ATS as an underdog this season.

The Storm are in good form right now, but this is not a fantastic spot to back them. However, the Storm are banged up, with Jewell Loyd and Ezi Magbegor being ruled out.

A’ja Wilson’s scoring prowess

A’JA WILSON broke the WNBA single-season scoring record last week. On Sunday, the Aces star became the first player to score 1,000 points in a season. Now, the likely league MVP and her teammates can focus on peaking for the start of the playoffs as the Aces visit the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.

Wilson didn’t hit this number at Climate Pledge Arena last time out, but she has scored 27 or more points in 12 of 18 road games this season. If she shoots 50% or better from the field like she has 11 times on the road this season, she will be well-positioned to get to at least 27 points.

And if she does hit that number, it bodes well for the Aces’ hopes of clinching at least the #4 seed, as they are 16-7 SU this season when Wilson scores 27+ points. If she can pair that with 10+ rebounds, it will also bode well for the Aces, as they are 12-3 SU when Wilson has 27+ points and 10+ rebounds.

Aces vs Storm Prediction: Aces to win

Aces vs Storm Picks: 1) Aces -9 2) A’ja Wilson over 26.5 points (-122 at BetOnline)

Betting on the WNBA

Thanks to the growing popularity of the WNBA and women’s basketball, WNBA odds are available far and wide this season.

In addition to offering odds on each game on the schedule, many sportsbooks also offer a variety of WNBA futures odds, such as championship winner odds, WNBA MVP odds, WNBA Rookie of the Year odds, win total odds, and more.

There are plenty of sports betting sites you can choose from that are good for WNBA betting. Including BetOnline, here are several books that we have reviewed and highly recommend:

What if you don’t have an account at a book on this list? Check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds.

Looking to learn more about the ins and outs of betting on the WNBA? Check out our WNBA betting guide. Also, we now offer WNBA computer picks for every game. And if you’d like to learn more about betting on WNBA player prop bets, our NBA player props guide is a handy resource to utilize.