{"id":186655,"date":"2025-10-03T04:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/186655\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T04:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:52:11","slug":"3-mercury-bold-predictions-for-2025-wnba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/186655\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Mercury bold predictions for 2025 WNBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post 3 Mercury bold predictions for 2025 WNBA Finals<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Less than 24 hours remain until the 2025 WNBA Finals, where the Phoenix Mercury<\/a> and Las Vegas Aces will meet for the league\u2019s ultimate prize.<\/p>\n

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Although the Mercury have some potential concerns<\/a> during this series, there are three things Phoenix might have happened that will shock everyone.<\/p>\n

Satou Sabally<\/a> will be the Mercury\u2019s WNBA Finals MVP\"\u00a9<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Rob Schumacher\/The Republic \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

All eyes point towards the offensive and defensive engine, Alyssa Thomas, being the WNBA Finals MVP if the Mercury win it all. She\u2019s had a historic season and is continuing that in the playoffs. But Satou Sabally can make a serious case to win the trophy.<\/p>\n

But why not Thomas? She will likely be matched up with A\u2019ja Wilson, a battle that will draw many eyes to this series.<\/p>\n

In the regular season, it\u2019s given Thomas issues due to Wilson matching her physicality and stepping out on the perimeter to defend. The reigning MVP can defend the pick-and-roll, the low-block, and match up in a variety of ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, someone like Kahleah Copper will be matched up with Jackie Young. The latter is an exceptional defender, and Copper is an elite scorer.<\/p>\n

Still, the challenge can be a bit much, and it forced the second-year Phoenix guard into less of a scoring role. Sure, Copper will get hers no matter what, but it might be more difficult than expected.<\/p>\n

This is where Sabally comes in. In the regular season series between the two teams, Aces head coach Becky Hammon continually called Sabally a \u201cmatchup nightmare<\/a>\u201d and referenced her ability to do everything.<\/p>\n

She can shoot the deep-ball, put it on the floor, post-up, as well as being a distributor and rebounder. There\u2019s not any one particular thing she can\u2019t do on the offensive side. However, her consistency remains the biggest question.<\/p>\n

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In the semifinals, she was consistent in Games 2-4. In that first game, though, there were shades of what happened in the series prior. The inability to hit shots is a major question and something that can swing the team\u2019s momentum in an instant.<\/p>\n

When she has connected on her shots, it\u2019s made Phoenix virtually unstoppable. Plus, the Mercury have challenged Sabally<\/a> throughout the regular season and playoffs, so being challenged in the WNBA Finals wouldn\u2019t be anything new.<\/p>\n

If Sabally presents a \u201cmatchup nightmare\u201d in the series like Hammon suggested, there could be a strong case for her to bring home her first championship and WNBA Finals MVP.<\/p>\n

The Mercury will defeat the Aces in 5 games in the 2025 WNBA Finals<\/p>\n

Considering how the Aces looked against the Indiana Fever<\/a> in the semifinals, it could be a legitimate concern for people rooting for them.<\/p>\n

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Mind you, Indiana had a severely depleted roster and even took Las Vegas to overtime on its home court in the closeout game. Obviously, the Aces ended up winning thanks to elite performances from Young and Wilson.<\/p>\n

Still, being taken to five games by a depleted Fever team is not a good look. And it\u2019s one that many should have skepticism about. Las Vegas will have minimal rest compared to Phoenix, which will have four days of rest, compared to two.<\/p>\n

Even Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts mentioned that rest alone could be a deciding factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In actuality, anything can be a deciding factor at this stage of the season. Regardless, Phoenix might be peaking at the right time. They\u2019ve had the same starting lineup for 20+ consecutive games (including the postseason) and nearly the same rotation in that span.<\/p>\n

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That continuity has paid dividends up to this point. It also gives a clear indication of who Tibbetts will roll with. His trust in the Mercury\u2019s 8-player rotation<\/a> has been admirable, even when at times, this season, it\u2019s been strange.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s Big 3 of Thomas, Sabally, and Copper seem to be finding their niche with one another. There\u2019s no ego, and every player is willing to take a backseat in terms of scoring so that others can get theirs.<\/p>\n

That alone is impressive, considering it\u2019s only been one season they\u2019ve played together. A mix of star power, rest, and continuity can potentially make the 2025 WNBA Finals a swift one.<\/p>\n

Mercury will win the offensive and defensive rebounding margins vs. Aces\"\u00a9<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

This is a strange one for those who have been following the Mercury all season. Despite being the fourth-best rebounding team in the league during the regular season, nearly 70% of the boards came from the defensive end<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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That metric is impressive, but leaves a big hole on the offensive glass. Teams like the Atlanta Dream, and coincidentally enough, the Aces, killed them in that category. Furthermore, Las Vegas isn\u2019t overly shot happy like Phoenix is.<\/p>\n

They prefer quality over quantity of shots and possessions, which can lead to the rebounding numbers being reduced. They\u2019re also the second-lowest rebounding team<\/a> in the playoffs, compared to Phoenix.<\/p>\n

So far in the playoffs, they\u2019ve attempted the third-fewest shots per game. Also, the rebounding hasn\u2019t been up to their standards. Even in Game 5 against Indiana, they were severely out-rebounded by a wide margin.<\/p>\n

Someone like Wilson can gobble up rebounds. Young can also get physical in the paint and has been one of the best rebounding guards in the league.<\/p>\n

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Despite that, the statistics just don\u2019t support the Aces being a great rebounding team like they were in the regular season. But this is where the Mercury can come in.<\/p>\n

The offensive rebounding has improved so much<\/a> since the playoffs began. Much of that credit belongs to Natasha Mack. While her minutes have been limited based on matchups and specific game scenarios, she knows her job.<\/p>\n

Hustle, give effort, and fight for every chance the ball comes off the rim or backboard. She\u2019ll come in for 10-15 minutes and be on the rebounds like a magnet.<\/p>\n

Against the Lynx, her minutes were limited because of their pace and consistent five-out offense. Whenever she was in the game, Mack managed to give her team plenty of second-chance points.<\/p>\n

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Like anything in this series, second-chance opportunities can decide a victory. The Mercury have a chance to etch their mark with their fourth WNBA championship. If they do so, these predictions could come to fruition, much to everyone\u2019s surprise.<\/p>\n

Related: Kahleah Copper offers \u2018heavy support\u2019 for Napheesa Collier\u2019s comments<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Bold predictions for Mercury-Aces WNBA Finals showdown<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post 3 Mercury bold predictions for 2025 WNBA Finals appeared first on ClutchPoints. Less than 24 hours…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[4662,4652,732,8133,49,48,27796,2803,4661,1483,3460,24530,3461,4659,82,25836,630,93711],"class_list":["post-186655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-aja-wilson","tag-alyssa-thomas","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-becky-hammon","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-copper","tag-indiana-fever","tag-jackie-young","tag-las-vegas","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-natasha-mack","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-satou-sabally","tag-sports","tag-the-mercury","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-finals-mvp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186655","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=186655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}