With the series tied 1-1, the Phoenix Mercury will host the Minnesota Lynx in Game 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET on Friday at the PHX Arena on ESPN2.<\/p>\n
The Mercury enter this pivotal matchup of a five-game series with plenty of momentum, having completed a 20-point comeback (tied for the third-largest in WNBA history) to win Tuesday\u2019s Game 2. They are 4.5-point underdogs with the series now at their place.<\/p>\n
Minnesota remains the betting favorite to win the WNBA championship, but a loss on Friday could shake things up in a big way.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at the latest WNBA odds<\/a> and my favorite Lynx vs. Mercury prediction for Game 3:<\/p>\n Lynx vs. Mercury Odds for Game 3: Spread, Total, Moneyline<\/p>\n Lynx spread: -4.5 Spread<\/p>\n Total<\/p>\n Money<\/p>\n Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n Phoenix Mercury<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Lynx vs. Mercury Prediction: Game 3 on Sept. 26<\/p>\n Based on the initial WNBA betting lines, I\u2019m choosing to lay the points with Minnesota for my Lynx vs. Mercury prediction ahead of Friday\u2019s Game 3.<\/p>\n This is a difficult one to trust after losing the same wager in Game 2, but that was an epic collapse by the Lynx. They led by as many as 20 at the 5:45 mark in the third quarter, with ESPN Analytics giving them a 98.9% win probability at that time.<\/p>\n Minnesota scored 24 points the rest of the way in an 89-83 loss, which included four points in overtime.<\/p>\n The Lynx haven\u2019t been as dominant through two games of this semifinal matchup, but I think that\u2019s more their doing than anything else. Minnesota wasn\u2019t sharp in the first half of Game 1 before flipping a switch after the break in its 82-69 victory.<\/p>\n If the Lynx look like the regular-season version of themselves for four quarters, I expect them to cover this spread.<\/p>\n During the regular season, Minnesota finished four games better than any other team in the league. The Lynx posted a +12.1 net rating, which was nine points higher than the Mercury\u2019s regular-season mark of +3.2.<\/p>\n From a betting perspective, the market couldn\u2019t quite catch up to Minnesota\u2019s dominance. The Lynx went 26-19-1 against the spread, marking the second-best ATS record in the league behind the Atlanta Dream.<\/p>\n The basketball world is due for a dominant showing from the championship favorites at some point. I believe that happens on Friday.<\/p>\n Prediction: Lynx -4.5<\/p>\n Visit the online sportsbook<\/a> for WNBA betting opportunities throughout the year. With prop bets, parlays, futures, and more, there\u2019s something for every basketball fan.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have a BetMGM account, check your eligibility for a sportsbook welcome offer<\/a>, one of many sportsbook promos<\/a> for new and existing customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the series tied 1-1, the Phoenix Mercury will host the Minnesota Lynx in Game 3 at 9:30…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":{"0":"post-167106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMercury spread: +4.5
\nTotal: 158.5<\/p>\n