Imagn Images
Will the defending champs advance to the next round, or will their season end Friday night? Those questions will be answered when the New York Liberty face the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2. New York, which won the WNBA title last year, took Game 1 75-69 before Phoenix responded with an 86-60 win in Game 2.Â
If you’re a fan of WNBA betting and are interested in placing a wager on Friday’s Liberty vs. Mercury clash, you should first see what WNBA experts Calvin Wetzel and Aaron Barzilai have locked in for this game.
Barzilai is a Ph.D. from Stanford who served as Director of Basketball Analytics for the Philadelphia 76ers. Five years ago, he founded HerHoopStats.com — a groundbreaking website that unlocks insights about the women’s game. Wetzel, the site’s lead betting writer, incorporates his mathematical background and strong knowledge of women’s hoops to turn the site’s prediction model into picks. Wetzel and Barzilai went 202-111-2 (+57.9 units) during the 2024 WNBA season and posted a 147-88-1 (+47.1 units) during the 2024-25 NCAA season. In the 2023 WNBA season, they finished 238-185-1 (+29.5 units).
Here are Wetzel and Barzilai’s best bets for New York vs. Phoenix on Friday:
Liberty vs. Mercury picks:Liberty/Mercury Under 156.5
In a winner-take-all Game 3, this is essentially the equivalent of a Game 7 in the NBA, and we know how much lower scoring those historically are given the intensity. The game slows down, and defense ramps up.
With how this series has been played already – neither game has cleared 146 despite one of them going to overtime – this has to be a play in the deciding game. Look for alt Unders as well – this could be a spot for an Under 149.5 at plus money.
Alyssa Thomas Under 8.5 assists
Between this space and the Early Edge, I’ve talked plenty about Alyssa Thomas’ tendency to take over in the scoring department in big games and defer to teammates in easy wins. Obviously, this is a big game, and will be far from an easy win.
However, rather than take her points Over, given how low-scoring this game is likely to be, let’s take her assists Under. She’s stayed Under in both games in the series so far, and four of six against New York this season.