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Fantasy women's basketball tips and WNBA betting picks for Thursday

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Best Bet 8/17/23: La's Vegas Aces and New York Liberty under 175.5 (2:14)

Best Bet 8/17/23: La's Vegas Aces and New York Liberty under 175.5 total points Video by Andre Snellings (2:14)

Each day of the WNBA season, our team of fantasy and betting experts breaks down every game on the slate, making note of everything from injuries and lineup changes to recent trends and more.

All odds are provided by Caesars Sportsbook. Times are ET.

Here's what to look for during today's slate.


New York Liberty at Las Vegas Aces
10 p.m. ET, Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas

Line: Aces -6.5
Money line: Liberty (+222), Aces (-278)
Total: 175.5 points

BPI prediction:
Aces: 65.4% chance to win.
Projected margin of victory: 4.4 points

Injury report
Liberty: No injuries reported
Aces: No injuries reported

Fantasy streamer: Marine Johannes (available in 87.6% of leagues) is one of the lightly rostered players in fantasy and has real upside on any given night. The Liberty and Aces just played Tuesday and Johannes scored 17 points with 3 rebounds, 5 3-pointers and 2 assists in 14 minutes. She had scored in single digits in each of the five games prior, but she does have nine double-digit scoring efforts on the season, including both games against the Aces. The first time these teams matched up in June, Johannes scored 10 points with 2 3-pointers, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 19 minutes. -- Snellings

Best bet: A'ja Wilson under 18.5 points. Wilson is one of the two runaway favorites to win WNBA MVP again this season, along with Breanna Stewart. But we now have a three-game sample of how the Liberty defense has been able to defend Wilson this season. New York has managed to make scoring a premium for Wilson as she has averaged only 11.3 PPG in three games against them with a season-high of 16 points. The Liberty have made it especially difficult on Wilson over the past two meetings this month, holding her to a combined 4-for-24 shooting from the floor with nine points scored in each matchup. -- Snellings