8:30 pm
September 19

Aces @ Mystics

Who will WIN this matchup?

Las Vegas Aces (21-13)

@ Washington Mystics (26-8)

 

Current odds:

Las Vegas Aces: (+374)

Washington Mystics: (-450)

 

• The line for this game is Mystics by 9 points.

There were some basic truisms that took place Tuesday night when the Mystics escaped with a 97-95 victory. Las Vegas looked like the team in rhythm early after winning a playoff game while Washington scraped off the rust following an eight-day layoff between games.

• The Mystics high-powered offense hit its stride in the second half when it was able to string together stops on the defensive end, and the Aces have plenty of frontcourt firepower to counteract MVP frontrunner Elena Delle Donne and Emma Meesseman in Liz Cambage and A’ja Wilson.

• Meesseman finished with 27 points and Delle Donne added 24 for Washington, which also welcomed back point guard Kristi Toliver. She missed the final 11 regular-season games with a bone bruise on her right knee and contributed eight points and four assists in 23 minutes off the bench and had a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that gave Washington a 13-point lead with 6:23 to play before Las Vegas made one last charge.

• Laimbeer’s challenge (Aces Coach) on the offensive end will be to get Cambage and Wilson involved for the full 40 minutes. Cambage scored 15 of her 19 points in the first half and Wilson scored 15 of her team-leading 23 in the first two quarters.

• The flip side is the Aces — who have lost nine straight playoff games on the road dating back to an 85-78 win at Sacramento in the 2008 conference semifinals when the franchise was in San Antonio — closed the game on a 16-5 burst to nearly overtake the best team in the WNBA on the road after losing to them twice by a combined 52 points.

6/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Washington Mystics