Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport
Phoenix Mercury vs Las Vegas Aces: The defending champions have a perfect start of the season
The Las Vegas Aces will try to keep a perfect record after they host the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at Michelob Ultra Arena.
How good is Phoenix this season?
The Phoenix Mercury are 1-1 in the first week of the 2024 WNBA season. They started with an 89-80 loss to the Las Vegas Aces but bounced back with an 88-85 win over the Atlanta Dream. Phoenix is sixth in the league, scoring 84 points per game, shooting 35.6% from three-point territory and 83.3% from the free throw line. Kahleah Copper is the best player on the team, averaging 28.5 points per game in the first two contests.
The Aces are excellent on the start of the season
The Las Vegas Aces won both games in the first week of the season. First, they beat the Phoenix Mercury 89-80 in the season opener, and then they defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 89-82. The Aces are third in the league, averaging 89 points per game and shooting 86.7% from the free-throw line. A’Ja Wilson is the leading scorer for the defending champion, averaging 26.5 points per game.
Betting Trends
The Mercury are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 Tuesday games, 8-21 ATS in their last 29 road games, and 7-21 ATS when playing on two days’ rest. Following wins, they are 7-19-1 ATS both after an ATS win and a straight-up win. However, they are 4-1 ATS against teams with a winning record. They have played over the total point line in 7 of their last 8 games overall, 5 of the last 6 games after an ATS win, and 4 of the last 5 road games. The Aces are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Tuesday games and 0-4 ATS against Western Conference teams. While the under has hit in 4 of their last 5 games playing on two days’ rest, the over has been dominant in home games (4-1-1) and against Western Conference opponents (11-4-1).
Prediction and Conclusion
The Las Vegas Aces won the last two WNBA championships, and going into the 2024 season, they look like the main contender to win another title. They play very solidly on both ends of the floor and are great in transition basketball. The Mercury cannot be very happy with the start of the season as they lost the opener in Las Vegas, which was their ninth consecutive loss against the Aces. That speaks enough of how good Las Vegas is, and they will show that once again by covering the -14.5-point spread against Phoenix.
