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2023 WNBA Finals odds, line, Game 1 start time: Liberty vs. Aces predictions, picks, best bets by top experts – CBS Sports
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Michelob Ultra Arena hosts Game 1 of the 2023 WNBA Finals on Sunday afternoon. The New York Liberty visit the Las Vegas Aces to begin the best-of-five series with a championship on the line. The teams split four regular season matchups, though New York defeated Las Vegas for the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship. Las Vegas is the No. 1 seed with a 34-6 record and an unbeaten 5-0 playoff mark, while New York finished 32-8 and the Liberty are 5-1 in the postseason.
Tipoff is at 3 p.m. ET. The Aces are 4.5-point favorites, while the over/under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 170.5 in the latest Liberty vs. Aces odds. Before making any Aces vs. Liberty picks and WNBA predictions, be sure to see what SportsLine women’s basketball experts Calvin Wetzel and Aaron Barzilai have to say.
Barzilai is a Ph.D. from Stanford who served as Director of Basketball Analytics for the Philadelphia 76ers. Five years ago, he founded HerHoopStats.com — a groundbreaking website that unlocks insights about the women’s game. Wetzel, the site’s lead betting writer, incorporates his mathematical background and strong knowledge of women’s hoops to turn the site’s prediction model into picks.
Now, Barzilai and Wetzel have turned their attention to the WNBA after going 996-685 on all college basketball picks over the last two seasons, putting them up 294 units since the start of the 2021-22 season. They also finished the 2022 WNBA regular season with a 54-44 mark in 2022. Anyone who has followed them has seen huge returns.
Now, Barzilai and Wetzel have set their sights on Liberty vs. Aces and just locked in their picks and WNBA predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see their picks. Now, here are several WNBA odds and betting lines for Liberty vs. Aces:
New York’s offense is elite in virtually every category. The Liberty led the WNBA in 3-point accuracy (37.4%) and 3-pointers per game (11.1) this season, and New York also set the pace of the league with 24.1 assists per contest. Beyond that, New York was No. 2 in the WNBA in 2-point accuracy (52.3%), field goal accuracy (46.0%), and free throw accuracy (82.9%), showcasing elite efficiency across the board. The Liberty are led by 2023 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, who averaged 23.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this season, and New York also has a dynamic guard in two-time All-Star Sabrina Ionescu.
In addition to tremendous offense, New York’s defense is quite strong, including league-leading marks in field goal percentage allowed (42.4%) and 2-point percentage allowed (46.1%). Stewart averaged 1.5 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, anchoring the unit, and New York was in the top three in free throw prevention (16.5 attempts allowed per game) and assists allowed (19.0 per game) during the 2023 regular season. See which team to pick here.
Las Vegas has absolutely dominated the 2023 season. The Aces produced the best record (34-6) in the league while also leading the WNBA in offensive efficiency (113.0 points per 100 possessions), defensive efficiency (97.7 points allowed per 100 possessions), and net rating (+15.3 points per 100 possessions). In the playoffs, Las Vegas is also unbeaten at 5-0, out-scoring opponents by 14.8 points per game and 18.6 points per 100 possessions. Opponents are shooting only 36.8% from the field and 23.6% from 3-point range against the Aces in the postseason, and Las Vegas is yielding fewer than 14 free throw attempts per game.
That builds on a regular season in which the Aces led the league in blocked shots (4.8 per game) and free throw prevention (15.7 attempts allowed per game), with top-three marks in field goal percentage allowed (42.6%) and 2-point percentage allowed (46.4%). On the other end, Las Vegas has star power to put consistent pressure on opponents, and the Aces led the league in field goal percentage (48.6%), 2-point percentage (54.9%), free throw percentage (84.0%) and turnover avoidance (11.1 per game) in 2023. See which team to pick here.
For Game 1 of the 2023 WNBA Finals, Barzilai and Wetzel are leaning Over on the point total, but also highlight a critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back. They are only sharing what it is, and which side of the Liberty vs. Aces spread to back, at SportsLine.
So who wins Liberty vs. Aces, and which side of the spread is a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Liberty vs. Aces spread you need to jump on Sunday, all from the experts who are up 294 units since the start of the 2021-22 season, and find out.
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