Mercury vs. Aces Series Preview Odds, Picks & Predictions: Aces Should Dominate This Matchup

The WNBA regular season has come and gone, and now the playoff stage is set. Eight teams are in the playoffs, which start on Wednesday, August 17th. The first round matchups are below:

• 1 Seed Aces vs. 8 Seed Mercury
• 2 Seed Sky vs. 7 Seed Liberty
• 3 Seed Sun vs. 6 Seed Wings
• 4 Seed Storm vs. 5 Seed Mystics

One important scheduling note to make is that the first round series are a best of three, with the first two games hosted by the higher seed. What this means, though, is that if the lower seed forces a game three it will also be a home game for the lower seed in a do-or-die game.

Let’s get started with the top seeded Aces, though, facing off against the Mercury.

Mercury vs. Aces Betting Preview

While the sportsbooks don’t list series odds specifically, game one odds at least heavily favor the Aces, and rightfully so.

The Aces finished as the one seed for a reason: they have an incredibly talented roster that is well-coached by Becky Hammon. The Aces finished the regular season averaging the most points-per-game (PPG) in the entire WNBA.

They averaged 90.4 PPG, while the next closest team was over 4 points lower than the Aces. They are an absolute offensive juggernaut, also finishing with the highest offensive net rating in the entire WNBA by a similar wide margin.

Unsurprisingly, the Aces had two players finish in the top five in terms of player scoring PPG, in Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson.

On the Mercury side, it is unlikely that they stand much of a chance here. They have a star-studded roster with Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith, but overall the Mercury had a tough season.

Obviously, they had to deal with the horrible Brittney Griner situation, so they deserve to be cut some slack, but they are severely out-matched against the Aces.

Despite being the eight seed, the Mercury aren’t even top eight in terms of net rating, finishing the regular season with the fourth-worst net rating in the WNBA.

They perform even worse on the road, too, finishing with the second-worst road net rating in the WNBA. This series doesn’t figure to be be particularly close.

Mercury vs. Aces Betting Pick: Aces Win Series 2-0