By Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
Known as the fight mecca, Las Vegas has also morphed into the summertime center of basketball with bigtime professional roundball converging on the city.
The WNBA was center stage Wednesday evening at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena, where the WNBA All-Stars played Team USA in an Olympic tune-up for the women’s national team bound for Tokyo. The WNBA’s stars bested the Olympians, 93-85, with an announced crowd of 5,175. It marked the first time this season that fans other than season ticket holders were allowed in the Las Vegas Aces’ home arena.
The women are part of a wave of elite basketball here in Las Vegas. The men’s national team, which includes NBA superstar Kevin Durant, has played two exhibition matches, well-publicized losses to Nigeria and Australia.
The U.S. women’s national team, as mentioned before, is in Las Vegas with Aces stars A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray on the Olympic roster.
Meanwhile, Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league took over the Orleans Arena with three-on-three hoops featuring just-retired talented NBAers.
And then in August, the NBA Summer League turns Las Vegas into the Woodstock of professional basketball when all 30 NBA teams come to UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center to give the teams’ young players and newly-drafted players a shot at putting their skills on display before crowds of NBA fans who can get into the games for tickets that usually cost about $30 or so.
The 2020 Summer League was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s on the schedule for Aug 8-17.
At the WNBA All-Star Game, the hometown Las Vegas Aces were well represented on both benches.
Wilson, Gray, and Kelsey Plum suited up for Team USA. while Liz Cambage and Dearica Hamby were on the 12-team league’s all-star roster.
“It’s always special to play here. It’s a lot of fun,” said Wilson, the WNBA’s reigning MVP. “We’re going to be competitive. We’re going to compete because that’s what people want to see.”
NBAers like DeMar DeRozen and Andre Drummand sat courtside during the all-star contest.
The men’s national team featuring Durant and Damian Lillard is in Las Vegas July 6-18.
Vegas is betting on basketball too. A big whoops at the sports book saw the over/under total on the WNBA All-Star Game moved more than 50 points Wednesday. The odds shifted from 248.5 at Circa Sports to 195.5 The WNBA All-Stars ended up handing the Olympic squad a rare loss that came in a total of 19 points below the closing over/under.
Normally, when bookmakers have posted bad point spreads or totals resulting from a typo or mistake, the sportsbooks have voided the bets on those numbers. Matt Metcalf, sportsbook director for Circa noticed a possibility to put up the primary whole on the WNBA All-Star Recreation on the betting market, he informed ESPN. “I made a horrific number, hung it and took bets,” he said.
Metcalf said he did not take into account that the WNBA All-Stars were facing the US women’s national team, which is preparing for the Olympics and is expected to take the game more seriously than the traditional high-score All-Star games that are often played with low intensity and defense.
“At worst, I do not assume this was greater than 15 factors off. That is as unhealthy as I feel it may very well be,” Metcalf stated. “I did not assume it could be the worst quantity ever.”
The US Women’s Olympic Team heads to Tokyo shortly for the 2021 Olympic Games. The Aces return to the hardwood on August 15 vs. Washington.
Basketball was even the top draw at the Red Rock sports book, where fans watched the Phoenix Suns lose Game 4 of the NBA Finals to the Milwaukee Bucks, with the Best-of-7 finals now tied, 2-2.