Liberty vs. Aces Thursday WNBA parlay: A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas should be extra motivated to avoid home sweep — CBS Sports

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Liberty vs. Aces Thursday WNBA parlay: A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas should be extra motivated to avoid home sweep — CBS Sports | AIPROPX

There's a three-game WNBA slate Thursday, and the late game provides the marquee matchup as the Las Vegas Aces visit he New York Liberty in a rematch of this week's Commissioner's Cup final. It's a clash we could see again in the WNBA Finals, as this exact Finals matchup is priced at +1900 in the WNBA futures. These are two of the league's model franchises, led by multiple-time MVPs in the Liberty's Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson of the Aces.

Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. ET at Michelob Ultra Arena. The latest Liberty vs. Aces odds at BetMGM list Las Vegas as a 4.5-point favorite, while the Over/Under for total points scored is set at 182.5. If you're interested in basketball betting and and parlay betting on the top sports betting apps , you can head to our sports betting page for more information.

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The Liberty have been incredibly streaky this season and are on a good run now. New York came out of the All-Star break with a 113-109 win at Los Angeles. It was their third straight victory, and the team averaged 102.3 points in those games ... but also allowed 100.3. And this follows a four-game skid in which the Liberty only reached 90 points once. It's been like that all season.

Stewart led the way Tuesday with 29 points, seven assists, four rebounds, four steals and three blocks. It was the two-time MVP's seventh time reaching 20 points in the past eight and her fourth straight game with multiple made 3-pointers, tying her longest streak with New York. Where Stewart goes, fellow star Sabrina Ionescu usually goes, and she finished with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists.

It was only the third time in team history a pair of teammates had at least 25 points and five assists in the same game, and the second time it was those two. The Liberty set season highs in points, field goals made (41), field-goal percentage (58.6), 3-pointers made (17) and 3-point percentage (53.1). The points were the franchise's most in a game since 2022.

Ionescu is really rounding into form after missing the first month-plus with injuries, scoring 25.6 points on 53.6% shooting in the winning streak. She's set at Over/Under 18.5 points tonight.

The team played a third straight game without starting guard Marine Johannes (9.4 PPG, 2.8 APG) due to an ankle injury. She's questionable. The anchor of the second unit, forward Satou Sabally (10.4 PPG), is still under concussion protocol and remains sidelined, as does fellow forward Leonie Fiebich (10.0 PPG) with a foot problem.

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Las Vegas came out of the break with a 98-83 home blowout win over Portland. Stars A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young both showed out, as Wilson finished a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds and Young tallied 25 points.

What more can you say about Wilson? She's leading the league in scoring (26.2 PPG) and blocks (2.0 BPG) while ranking third in rebounding (9.7 PPG). She's a four-time league MVP who is a -360 favorite to win another and a +370 second favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year for a fourth time. She has now scored in double figures in a league-leading 49 consecutive games and had at least 20 in eight straight, the second-longest active streak in the league. Wilson is set at O/U 25.5 points for this one.

Tuesday was her league-best 13th double-double of the year. I'm trying to think of an NBA comparison, and I'm not sure there is one right now. The Aces were without starting forward NaLyssa Smith due to an illness Tuesday, but she is expected back tonight. Smith averages 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

This marks the third meeting of the season between the franchises, but much like the NBA Cup title game the Commissioner's Cup title game does not count whatsoever toward the regular season. The Liberty beat the Aces in New York for that crown on June 30 by a score of 93-85, but you can all but throw that out because Wilson missed with an ankle injury. She did play on June 23 at home when the Aces were upset by the Liberty, 87-76. Stewart and Ionescu dominated in both New York wins.

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You always look for a "motivation" game in a sport with such a long regular season like basketball, and you know the Aces won't want to lose to their peers yet again, much less get swept at home in the season series (one game remaining in Brooklyn). New York is a league-worst 3-11 ATS away. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.