Mercury Looking to Go 3-0 vs Liberty

The Phoenix Mercury are on a two-game losing streak and have a 2-0 record vs the New York Liberty. One of those streaks will be broken on Friday night in what is sure to be a tightly contested game.

Mercury center Natasha Mack (4) contests a shot from Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during a game at PHX Arena in Phoenix, on June 27, 2025. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Friday night, the Phoenix Mercury will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak on the road against the New York Liberty. The game will be the first of a tough five-game road trip and starting it with a win would be huge for a team looking to avoid falling from their second-place spot in the Western Conference.

The good news for Phoenix is that Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, and Lexi Held are all back in the lineup and they looked better as the game went on in Wednesday's loss to the Atlanta Dream. The bad news, aside from the continued absence of starting point guard Monique Akoa Makani is that the rich got richer, as the defending champion Liberty just added two-time WNBA All-Star Emma Meesseman to an already stacked lineup.

It's unclear if she'll play against Phoenix, but it will make chasing the Liberty, who have the second-best record in the league (Phoenix is in third) in the standings that much more difficult, making winning this game all the more important.

The Liberty have a well-balanced lineup filled with star talent. Two-time MVP Breanna Stewart and three-point contest winner Sabrina Ionescu are the leading scorers, at 19.6 and 18.4 points per game, respectively, with 2024 Finals MVP Jonquel Jones joining them in the starting lineup, averaging a near-double-double.

While Stewart and Iounescu have struggled a bit from three this year, the Liberty shoot from the outside better than any team in the league. Four players in their rotation shoot better than 40% from deep. Phoenix will need to clean up their defensive rotations to avoid letting the Liberty get clean looks the same way the Dream did on Wednesday.

Aside from having the league's second-best offense, the Libs also have the second-best defense. Mercury fans are undoubtedly familiar with point guard Natasha Cloud's defensive intensity, and she'll be making life difficult for the Mercury, finding extra motivation in her sudden trade from the team last offseason.

But, despite the Liberty's loaded roster and championship experience, the Mercury are 2-0 against New York so far this season, with wins both home and away. The first, in New York, was a slugfest, with a combined 52 free throw attempts in the game. The currently injured Akoa Makani led the team in scoring with 21 points, and applied the pressure that helped Phoenix force 19 turnovers.

The second game, in Phoenix, was a barnburner, with the Mercury dropping 106 points and a franchise-record 18 made threes. Sabally was on fire, with 25 points on 7-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc, and Alyssa Thomas dished out 15 assists.

It will be a tough game, especially with two of their stars just having returned from injury and possibly still playing on a minutes restriction, but if Phoenix's defense can force the Liberty to turn the ball over, it's very much a winnable game. A victory here could put mental pressure on the Liberty should the two teams match up again in the playoffs.

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