Here we are—a battle of the two best records in the WNBA. Before the season, you could have guessed the Minnesota Lynx would be one of those teams. However, fewer people would have picked the Phoenix Mercury as the second team.
The Lynx are four games clear of the rest of the WNBA field. The odds-on MVP favorite, Napheesa Collier, has powered them to a 17-2 record. But don’t count out the Mercury at 13-6. Just now starting to get healthy, they have a roster to be feared. Powered by a star trio and excellent role players, Phoenix is rising rapidly in the contender rankings like, well, a phoenix.
The Lynx are 7.5-point favorites on the road and are -340 on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The total is set at 161.5 points. Let’s look at the best bets and predictions for this contest.
Lynx vs. Mercury Prediction
The shame in this contest is that we won’t get to see the two go at it while fully healthy. As I mentioned before, Phoenix has had injury struggles this season. As soon as Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally were joined in the lineup by Kahleah Copper, injuries struck again. Now the latter two will be out for another game.
It’s a tough blow for these Mercury. If fully healthy, this line would have been close to even. They’d have a great chance at making up a game in the standings and being three back of the top seed. Instead, I fear they are headed for a loss. That would put them five games behind the Lynx, which would be a significant challenge to overcome.
Lynx vs. Mercury Pick
Minnesota Lynx -7.5 (-110)
It’s really a shame that these two teams can’t face off while healthy. But this is the reality of the situation: the Lynx are storming into this game, and the Mercury are hobbling in.
If fully healthy, I would have picked the Mercury to win this one. But the power of Alyssa Thomas alone cannot defeat Minnesota. Even if she can negate the excellence of Napheesa Collier, the rest of this Lynx squad will eat the Mercury’s depth players alive. Take the Lynx to cover in what should be a double-digit victory.
