Mercury vs Liberty Picks, Predictions, Player Props & Odds – Is Breanna Stewart Playing in Game 2?

• The Phoenix Mercury face elimination on the road against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night
• Two-time MVP Breanna Stewart is a game-time decision for the Liberty
• See the Mercury vs Liberty picks and predictions, plus the latest odds and player props for Sep. 17

The New York Liberty (27-17, 17-5 home, 15-27-2 ATS) outlasted the Phoenix Mercury (27-17, 12-10 away, 21-22-1 ATS) in the opener of their best-of-three first-round series on Sunday in Arizona (76-69 OT) and now have the chance to close out the Mercury in Game 2 on Wednesday night in the Big Apple.

The Liberty and Mercury will tip-off at 8:00 pm ET from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The Liberty could be without leading scorer Breanna Stewart (18.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 3.5 APG). After playing a massive 40 minutes on Sunday, the two-time MVP remains a game-time decision as of noon ET on gameday, though latest indications are that she’ll suit up.

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Mercury vs Liberty Picks & Prediction

• Liberty -3.5 (-115) at Caesars
• Ionescu under 18.5 points (-105) at bet365
• Copper under 16.5 points (-105) at bet365

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The Liberty are obviously a wildly different team without Stewart. They went just 5-8 SU in the 13 regular-season games she missed due to the same knee ailment that’s still plaguing her.

But New York was briefly being priced like Stewart was going to be out. The Liberty opened as 4.5-point home favorites and that line has dropped two full points, while the player props omitted her name.

In the last ten minutes, the line has moved back towards New York (see last section for current odds).

The reigning-champion Liberty were underwhelming in the regular season. No one predicted a fifth-place finish and home-court disadvantage in the first round. But they were still an impressive 17-5 on their home court.

Even without Stewart, New York still has plenty of top-end talent. That showed up in Game 1 when . Stewart, as mentioned, did play the full 40 minutes, but she wasn’t as effective as she is when fully healthy. She finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists, shooting 7-of-14 from the field.

Veteran Natasha Cloud (10.2 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 5.1 APG) came up huge with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 from the floor.

New York’s defense was perhaps the real MVP of the game, limiting the Mercury to just 32.5% from the field (23.1% from three) and finishing +17 on the glass. If not for a -10 turnover differential, New York wins the game going away in regulation.

With the series shifting to New York, I expect similar domination from the playoff-tested Liberty in front of their own fans.

PHX Mercury vs NY Liberty Player Props for Game 2

WNBA player props as of 11:02 am ET, Sep. 17th at bet365. Claim the bet365 bonus code to bet on Wednesday’s WNBA playoff doubleheader.

New York’s Sabrina Ionescu (18.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 5.7 APG) has the highest point total of the night at 18.5 O/U, two points higher than Kahleah Copper (15.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.5 APG), who had a team-high 15 for Phoenix in a losing effort on Sunday.

Mercury point-forward Alyssa Thomas (15.4 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 9.2 APG) lead the rebound and assist totals at 9.5 and 8.5, respectively. She was almost bang on all her regular-season averages in Game 1, finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight dimes.

Best Available Mercury vs Liberty Odds

As mentioned, the spread has been bouncing around pretty wildly over the last several hours as the Stewart situation sorts itself out. As of 11:36 am ET, the bets Phoenix moneyline was +155 at ESPN Bet, which also had the bets ATS option for Mercury bettors (+4.5 at -115). The bets Liberty moneyline was -170 at either Caesars or bet365. Caesars was the only book that still had New York at -3.5 (-115). All other books have moved the line to four points or higher.

The game total is 159.5 across the board. DraftKings is offering the over at -105, while FanDuel is offering the same price on the under.