What is the WNBA Commissioner's Cup? (Why Bettors Should Pay Attention to Sky vs. Fever Tonight)

The top team in the WNBA faces off against the league's bottom-feeder in Indianapolis tonight, but besides a win in the standings, there's much more at stake than a traditional regular season game when the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever tip-off this evening.

The Sky have a chance to clinch home court advantage for the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup, which is a first half in-season tournament that wraps ahead of the All Star Break this Sunday in Chicago. The championship game will be played on Tuesday, July 26 at the location of the team with the best overall record in the specific Commissioner's Cup standings.

The Sky snapped a five-game winning streak in their 88-85 road loss to the Minnesota Lynx Wednesday afternoon; opening the door for the Las Vegas Aces to clinch home-court for the championship game. Instead, they got their doors blown off by the New York Liberty as Sabrina Ionescu had a historic triple-double in the Liberty's 116-107 upset victory as 11-point underdogs.

Now, all Chicago needs to do is win straight up vs. Indiana to host the Aces with $500,000 on the line.

Before we dive into the impact of the Cup, here's how oddsmakers at WynnBET Sportsbook have handicapped tonight's matchup.

Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever Odds, Spread and Total

Spread:

• Sky -9 (-110)
• Fever +9 (-110)

Moneyline:

• Sky -460
• Fever +350

Total:

• 167 (OVER -110 | UNDER -110)

Why does the WNBA Commissioner's Cup Matter?

Each WNBA team plays in approximately 10 games during the Commissioner's Cup in-season tournament. The top team in the Eastern Conference, as well as the top team in the Western Conference in those 10 specific games face off in the championship game on Tuesday, July 26. The prize pool consists of $500,000 for the teams playing in the championship game, with $30,000 per player on the winning team.

With the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky finishing with the two best records in the Commissioner's Cup standings out of the Western and Eastern Conference respectively, with a nice chunk of change at stake, having home court advantage makes a meaningful difference.

As mentioned, a win for Chicago gives them the championship game in their home building, so it's imperative that they take care of business on the road against the worst team in the WNBA.

Sky vs. Fever Prediction and Pick

I discussed the play in length in our best bets column for tonight's WNBA action with Donnavan Smoot HERE. The safest way to back tonight's game is to take the Sky early with a first quarter or first half play. The Fever are the worst net-rated team in both, and the Sky are on a completely dominant level; ranked 1st in the league by a wide margin in first quarter net rating. They know what's at stake to host the Commissioner's Cup, and they'll want to put the Fever away early so they can get their stars some rest on the second leg of their road back-to-back.

The 9-points feels too risky considering Chicago has lost to Indiana in this building already, and if they're up by double digits late, they may have already decided to rest their starters and let Indiana make it closer than they should.

Go big early with the Sky tonight, as they should likely be hosting the Aces with $500K on the line in late July.

PICK: Sky 1Q -3 (-105)

Follow all of Ben's betting plays in real-time HERE!