WNBA Picks

Phoenix Mercury vs. Los Angeles Sparks – 7/25/20 WNBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Phoenix Mercury vs. Los Angeles Sparks - 7/25/20 WNBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction
2020-07-25 15:00:00 EDT

The Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury meet Saturday in WNBA action at the IMG Academy.

The Los Angeles Sparks won 22 games last season and made it all the way to the WNBA Semifinals. Few teams can say they have the depth and experience the Sparks have, as a foursome of Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Seimone Augustus and Chelsea Gray is as good as it gets. Parker is one of the best to ever do it, Ogwumike is an MVP winner, Gray was a first-team selection last season and Augustus is a four-time WNBA champion and eight-time all-star. Those four players alone make the Los Angeles Sparks a serious title contender this season. Not having Chiney Ogwumike or Kristi Toliver due to them sitting out under these odd circumstances does hurt the overall depth, but the Sparks still have the nucleus that recently got them the hardware. 

The Phoenix Mercury had a disappointing 15-win season that ended in the first round of the WNBA playoffs. Right when it feels like the championship window has closed, the Mercury find a way to keep it open. Brittney Griner is still an MVP contender in this league and Diana Taurasi is still capable of putting on a show as long as health is on her side. The Mercury also went out and traded for Skylar Diggins-Smith, who missed last season due to maternity leave but is still one of the top guards in this league when on the court. Throw in Brianna Turner and Bria Hartley, and the Mercury have a nice squad yet again that’s quite intriguing. Sandy Brondello is also still arguably the best coach in this league, so you shouldn’t be quick to write off the Mercury just yet.

The Sparks are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The Mercury are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 vs. Western Conference and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Sparks last 5 overall. The under is 5-2 in Mercury last 7 home games. The Sparks are 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings.

This should be a hell of a basketball game between two teams that don’t really like each other and are absolutely loaded when it comes to top level talent. You could make a case for either side, but I’m a little more excited about the Mercury with the addition of Diggins-Smith. There’s now a little less pressure on Griner and Taurasi to carry the load with the four-time all-star in the mix. The Phoenix Mercury became a much better team by making that move and gave up enough that tells you they believe it puts them over the top.

I like the Mercury in this matchup, and I’ll update when odds are released. 

Randy Chambers's Free Pick: Phoenix Mercury +4.5

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Randy Chambers

Randy has covered sports betting since 2014 and writes about everything from NFL to WNBA. Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter.

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