Last season, the WNBA debuted a new in-season competition called the Commissioner’s Cup. Select games from the first half of the season count as Commissioner’s Cup games, and the two teams from each conference with the best record in said games qualify for the championship. There is a $500,000 prize pool up for grabs in the championship game, with $30,000 going to each player on the winning team and $10,000 going to each player on the losing team. In addition, the MVP of the championship game will earn an additional $5,000.
This season, the Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces each cruised to the championship with 9-1 records in their respective cup games. The Sky had the better overall record heading into the All-Star break, though, so they earned the right to host the game on Tuesday night.
Ahead of all the action, here’s everything you need to know:
How to watch Sky vs. Aces
Date: Tuesday, July 26 | Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Location: Wintrust Arena — Chicago, Illinois
TV: None | Live stream: Amazon Prime Video
Odds (via Caesars Sportsbook): Sky -130; Aces +110; O/U: 169.5
Final Commissioner’s Cup standings:
Eastern Conference
- Chicago Sky: 9-1
- New York Liberty: 6-4
- Connecticut Sun: 5-5
- Washington Mystics: 5-5
- Atlanta Dream: 3-7
- Indiana Fever: 2-8
Western Conference
- Las Vegas Aces: 9-1
- Seattle Storm: 6-4
- Dallas Wings: 5-5
- Minnesota Lynx: 4-6
- Los Angeles Sparks: 3-7
- Phoenix Mercury: 3-7
Storylines
Sky: The defending WNBA champs got a slow start out of the gates, but have been stellar ever since and enter Tuesday’s matchup in first place in the league. They are coming off a loss, however, as their six-game winning streak was snapped by the New York Liberty on Saturday on a last-second and-one by Sabrina Ionescu. While they won’t be too worried by that result, the Sky will be checking for updates on Courtney Vandersloot’s health. The All-Star point guard has missed the last four games in the concussion protocol, and while she did practice on Monday her status for Tuesday is unclear. If she’s unable to go it will be a huge blow to the Sky’s chances.
Aces: The Aces looked unstoppable over the first few months of the season, as they got off to a flying 13-2 start. But on June 21, they blew a 28-point lead to the Sky — the largest blown lead in WNBA history — which started a downward spiral. Their defense was nonexistent as lost five of seven games to fall out of first place. They’ve been much better since the All-Star break, however, as MVP candidate A’ja Wilson has led them on a 5-1 run that has them back within a game of the Sky in the overall standings. Still, there are some concerns about their defense which the Sky may be able to exploit.
Prediction
The Sky are the defending champs, the better defensive team and have home-court advantage. As such, they’ve been made slight two-point favorites by the oddsmakers. They’ve been dealing with a tough travel schedule over the past week, however, and with Vandersloot’s status still up in the air, we’ll roll with the high-powered Aces to pull the slight upset. Pick: Aces +2
