Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces Prediction and Odds - 5/30/21
It’s an interconference clash on the parquet floor in the Silver State in WNBA action. The Indiana Fever are on the road as they make the trip to face the Las Vegas Aces Sunday night in the second game of a two-game set. In the opening game of the series Friday night, Las Vegas ran all over Indiana en route to a 113-77 victory to draw first blood. That extended the Aces’ dominance in the series to 10 wins in the last 11 meetings. Will the Fever find a way to slow down the Las Vegas attack or will the Aces run wild again to sweep the series while maintaining momentum on their home floor?
Indiana Fever Trying to Earn Split of Two-Game Set
Indiana dropped their second straight game as they were basically run off the floor by Las Vegas on the road in the opening game of this two-game set. The Fever dropped to 1-6 on the season and well on the outside looking in for the playoff spot entering this one. Against Las Vegas, Indiana took their lone lead at 2-0 before the ceiling fell in as the Aces scored the next 10 points. The Fever trailed by 17 after the opening quarter and never got closer than 10 after that as the rout was on. Indiana shot 39.4% from the field, including four of 16 from three-point range, and turned the ball over 20 times in the loss. Tiffany Mitchell paced the Fever in the scoring department with 17 points in a losing effort.
The Fever comes into this game 10th in the league in scoring offense with 76.1 points per game. Indiana is fifth in the league in rebounding (36.3 boards per contest) and is ninth in the league in assists with an average of 17.9 dimes per game. The Fever are 11th in the league in scoring defense by allowing 87 points a night. Kelsey Mitchell is one of three players for the Fever averaging in double figures with 15.3 points a night. Teaira McCowan (10.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.1 blocks) and Danielle Robinson (9.9 points, 3.9 assists) are good secondary options. Tiffany Mitchell (10.1 points), Jantel Lavender, Bernadett Hatar, Victoria Vivians, Jessica Breland, Lindsey Allen, Kysre Gondrezick and Chelsey Perry are looked at to contribute for coach Pokey Chatman. Indiana is 8th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 41.5% as a team on the year. The Fever are 12th in threes per game (4.6) while standing 11th by hitting 27.4% of their long-range attempts. Indiana is seventh in free throw shooting as they sink 78.8% of their chances at the stripe this season. Hatar missed the last two games with an ankle injury and is questionable here.
Las Vegas Aces Go for Series Sweep
Las Vegas won their second straight game as they followed up their win on the road over Phoenix as they trounced Indiana in the first game of this two-game set. The Aces entered Saturday holding the fifth seed in the WNBA playoff picture. In Friday’s game, Las Vegas used a 10-0 run to erase a 2-0 deficit en route to a 30-13 advantage after one quarter. The Aces saw the lead trimmed to 12 at the half before opening the second half with a 22-6 run to go up 81-53 with 2:23 to play in the third quarter and cruised the rest of the way. Las Vegas shot 55.1% from the field, including seven of 15 from three-point range, and hit 30 of 39 free throw attempts in the win. Dearica Hamby led the Aces with 25 points in the win.
The Aces come into this contest near the top of the pack in scoring offense, ranking second with 89.8 points per game. Las Vegas is eighth in the league in rebounding (35.2 boards a game) and stand third in the league in assists by handing out 20.3 dimes per contest. The Aces have been solid on the defensive end of the floor as they are 3rd in the league in scoring defense by allowing 79 points a game. A’ja Wilson leads the Aces with 18.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and three assists per game. Liz Cambage (12.8 points, 7.5 rebounds), Jackie Young (15.2 points, 4.7 rebounds) and Kelsey Plum (10.5 points) are all solid secondary options on the offensive end. Coach Bill Laimbeer also can call on Chelsea Gray (13.8 points, seven assists), Dearica Hamby (12.3 points, 6.2 boards), Riquna Williams, Jisu Park, Emma Cannon and Destiny Slocum to contribute on both ends of the floor. Las Vegas is first in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 48.3% from the field as a team this season. The Aces are tied for 10th in the league in threes per game (4.8) and seventh in three-point shooting at 33% on the year. Las Vegas is currently fourth in free throw shooting at 82% on the season. Plum is currently with USA Basketball for the three-on-three qualifying tournament in Graz, Austria for the Olympics and will be out until early June.
Pick: Las Vegas Aces
Indiana dropped to 0-3 on the road this season and 1-6 overall as they were drubbed soundly in the first game of this two-game set. The Fever doesn’t have the firepower in their rotation to keep up with the Aces, as we saw in Friday’s game. Las Vegas had six of their eight players in double figures in the win Friday night with Hamby leading the way with 25 off the bench. The Aces are 2-1 at home and we just saw them destroy Indiana Friday night. It’s hard to see things massively changing here, less than 48 hours later. Based on what we saw Friday night, you have to go with the Aces, led by Wilson and Cambage.
Total: Over
Indiana has struggled shooting the ball this season and even in a game that went well over the total Friday night, they barely scored over their season average. Still, we saw that game blow past the total of 166 with six minutes to play in the contest. Las Vegas has seen the over hit in three of their six games this year but they have the weapons to put up big point totals. The Aces are second in the league in scoring offense and they lead the league in field goal percentage. One of Las Vegas’ unders was by two points and a second one was three points short. We saw the game blow over the total in Friday’s contest and you have to think that this one is going to be another high-scoring game that winds up over the mark as well.
