The Phoenix Mercury and Golden State Valkyries are set to see a decent bit of each other this week, with their two scheduled matchups firmly in the must-win category for both squads. This week’s first Mercury vs. Valkyries meeting will take place tonight at the Chase Center, where Phoenix will be aiming to improve to 3-0 this season against Golden State.
The Mercury have been up and down, but Sunday’s close win at Seattle was huge for their push for a top-four seed in the WNBA playoffs. Golden State, meanwhile, is coming off of a disappointing home loss to the Atlanta Dream. Despite the setback, they remain in a strong position in the WNBA postseason picture.
How will this matchup shake out? Read on for our Mercury vs. Valkyries prediction and best bets and find out where the best betting value lies among BetOnline and other top U.S. sportsbooks.
Phoenix Mercury vs. Golden State Valkyries Betting Trends
- The Mercury are 18-15 against the spread this season, including 4-2 ATS in their last six games.
- Phoenix is 9-7 SU and 8-8 ATS on the road thus far this season, including 5-3 SU and 4-4 ATS as a home favorite.
- Overall, the Mercury are 14-7 SU and 11-10 ATS as a favorite this season.
- The Valkyries are 10-6 SU and 11-5 ATS at home this season, including 6-5 SU and 8-3 ATS as a home underdog.
- Overall, Golden State is 11-14 SU and 15-10 ATS as an underdog this season.
- The under has hit in Golden State’s last seven home games and is 9-1 in their last 10 home games.
- The under is 7-3 in Golden State’s last 10 games overall.
- The under is 8-6-2 in Phoenix’s road games this season, including 5-2-1 in their last eight road games.
Mercury vs. Valkyries Prediction and Best Bets
The Valkyries put in a disappointing performance on Sunday in a 79-63 loss to the Atlanta Dream, shooting only 35% from the field as they were held below 65 points for just the second time this season.
But even with the loss to Phoenix, Golden State (18-16) enters tonight with a 1.5-game lead over the Seattle Storm (17-18) for the seventh seed and a two-game lead over the Los Angeles Sparks (16-18) and Washington Mystics (16-18).
They maintained their advantage over the Storm thanks to Phoenix (20-13) going into Seattle and leaving with an 85-82 win. Sunday’s victory helped the Valkyries and helped the Mercury’s quest to beat out the Dream (22-12), New York Liberty (21-13), and Las Vegas Aces (21-14) for the No. 2 seed.
Entering tonight’s Mercury vs. Valkyries contest, Golden State is a perfect 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in the next home game following a home loss this season. So, this has been a successful spot for them.
However, the Valkyries have fared poorly against the better teams in the WNBA. To date, they have just four wins in 15 games against the Lynx, Dream, Liberty, Aces, and Fever.
That said, the Mercury have not done a good job of stringing road wins together. Only once this season has Phoenix won consecutive road games. That occurred when they had a four-game road win streak in mid-June.
Also, the Mercury are 1-7 SU and ATS in their last eight games against the league’s other .500+ teams, a rough run featuring five losses as a favorite.
Golden State let me down Sunday, but there’s no hesitation in going back to the well tonight.
Mercury vs. Valkyries Prediction: Valkyries to win
Mercury vs. Valkyries Best Bets: 1) Valkyries +7 (-115 at Bovada) 2) Valkyries ML (+250 at Everygame)
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