New York Liberty (27-17, 15-5 Eastern Conference) at Phoenix Mercury (27-17, 13-11 Western Conference)
Phoenix; Sunday, 5 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Liberty -1.5; over/under is 164.5
WNBA PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Mercury host first series matchup
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BOTTOM LINE: The Phoenix Mercury host the New York Liberty in game one of the first round of the WNBA playoffs. Phoenix went 3-1 against New York during the regular season. The Mercury won the last regular season meeting 80-63 on Aug. 31. Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 22 points, and Emma Meesseman led the Liberty with 17 points.
The Mercury are 15-7 on their home court. Phoenix is seventh in the WNBA averaging 82.8 points and is shooting 43.3% from the field.
The Liberty are 10-12 on the road. New York is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 6.8 offensive rebounds per game led by Nyara Sabally averaging 1.6.
Phoenix is shooting 43.3% from the field this season, 0.9 percentage points higher than the 42.4% New York allows to opponents. New York averages 84.4 points per game, 4.3 more than the 80.1 Phoenix allows to opponents.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Alyssa Thomas is shooting 53.3% and averaging 15.4 points for the Mercury. Copper is averaging 15.0 points over the last 10 games.
Sabrina Ionescu is averaging 18.2 points and 5.7 assists for the Liberty. Breanna Stewart is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mercury: 6-4, averaging 80.0 points, 34.7 rebounds, 21.6 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.1 points per game.
Liberty: 6-4, averaging 77.3 points, 32.6 rebounds, 21.3 assists, 6.3 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.0 points.
INJURIES: Mercury: None listed.
Liberty: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
