Very few teams in the WNBA have their fates decided. It’s a contentious playoff race with six of the eight seeds yet to be settled, while one team outside the top eight remains in the running. But the New York Liberty are locked into the fifth seed, while the Washington Mystics are lottery-bound. That doesn’t mean this game is without meaning.
The Liberty are 12-point favorites at home and hold -650 odds on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook. The total is set at 159 points. Let’s take a look at the best bets and predictions for this Mystics-Liberty matchup.
Mystics at Liberty prediction, pick
The Liberty hoped to have a shot at home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. New York needed some losses from the Dream, Mercury, or Aces to get back in the race. But, with two games left, they’re locked in. The Mercury, two games ahead, own the tiebreaker. And the Liberty have the tiebreaker over the sixth-seeded Golden State Valkyries, who are two back as well. That does at least simplify things for head coach Sandy Brondello and this Liberty team.
Injuries have been the theme of the year. Jonquel Jones missed significant time and has only recently returned to peak form. Breanna Stewart continues to ramp up after her knee injury. And now Sabrina Ionescu is struggling with a toe injury. For the last two games, the goal is to get fully healthy. If they can’t, the focus is on managing their bumps and bruises.
The Mystics want to go out with some pride. It was a successful year, netting two All-Star rookies and finding other good roster pieces, and their rebuild looks promising. But they’ve lost nine straight games. No team wants to go into a fresh season on a colossal losing streak. This is their last shot at ending the slide.
With the Liberty likely to manage their minutes while Washington goes full bore, I’m counting on the Mystics to keep this one tight. Maybe they’ll get a win and end this season with their chins held high.
