Golden State Valkyries (19-8, 7-5 Western Conference) at Phoenix Mercury (10-18, 6-10 Western Conference)
Phoenix; Wednesday, 10 p.m. EDT
LINE: Valkyries -5.5; over/under is 155.5
BOTTOM LINE: Golden State Valkyries plays the Phoenix Mercury after Kaitlyn Chen scored 20 points in the Valkyries’ 90-82 loss to the Washington Mystics.
The Mercury are 6-10 in Western Conference games. Phoenix is 8- when it wins the turnover battle and averages 13.2 turnovers per game.
The Valkyries are 7-5 in Western Conference play. Golden State ranks fifth in the Western Conference with 32.2 rebounds per game led by Kayla Thornton averaging 5.0.
Phoenix is shooting 43.9% from the field this season, 1.6 percentage points higher than the 42.3% Golden State allows to opponents. Golden State averages 10.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.8 more makes per game than Phoenix gives up.
The teams meet for the third time this season. The Valkyries won 87-81 in the last matchup on June 10.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kahleah Copper is averaging 20.5 points for the Mercury. Alyssa Thomas is averaging 14.4 points, seven rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.
Veronica Burton is scoring 11.9 points per game and averaging 3.4 rebounds for the Valkyries. Janelle Salaun is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mercury: 5-5, averaging 84.4 points, 30.3 rebounds, 19.9 assists, 7.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 87.6 points per game.
Valkyries: 9-1, averaging 78.7 points, 29.4 rebounds, 18.2 assists, 8.6 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.3 points.
INJURIES: Mercury: None listed.
Valkyries: Juste Jocyte: day to day (foot), Iliana Rupert: out for season (pregnancy).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
