Phoenix Mercury vs. Seattle Storm
May 14, 2022 3:00 pm EDT
The Line: Seattle +2.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm face off on Saturday in a WNBA showdown at Climate Pledge Arena. When these two teams faced off on May 11th it was Phoenix that secured the 97-77 victory.
Phoenix was led by Tina Charles who finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Seattle was led by Jewell Lloyd who finished with 26 points.
The Phoenix Mercury comes into this game with a 1-1 record overall. In the first game of the season against the Las Vegas Aces, the Mercury’s defense really struggled, giving up 106 points and that led to an 18 point defeat. In the last game, the defense still wasn’t elite, but the offense scored 97 points. The Mercury are still without Brittney Grinner and not having her is a big loss for this team. The Mercury’s offense is ranked 1st in the league, while their defense is ranked 12th. The offensive rating for Phoenix is 111.7 which is 1st in the league, and the offense is going to need to be good again in this game. The top player for Phoenix is Skylar Diggins-Smith who is averaging 22 points while shooting 53.1 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from behind the three-point line.
On the other side of this matchup is the Seattle Storm, who are dealing with COVID issues, and they are expected to be without Breanna Stewart and Epiphanny Price. The Storm opened up their season with a 97-74 victory over the Minnesota Lynx, but since that point, they have lost two straight games. Two games ago against the Las Vegas Aces they lost 85-74, and in the last against the Mercury they lost by 20 points. The Storm are averaging 82.7 points, while their defense is giving up 85.3 points per game. They are ranked 4th in the league in terms of pace. In this game, if the Storm wants to find success, they are going to need the defense to be a lot better.
When these two teams faced off on the 11th, the Mercury scored 97 points, and without Breanna Stewart, I don’t think the Storm are going to find enough offensive success to keep up in this game. Back the Mercury against the spread.
