Phoenix Mercury at Las Vegas Aces 10/8/21 - WNBA Picks & Predictions

The Phoenix Mercury visit the Las Vegas Aces on Friday for the deciding Game 5 of their WNBA semifinals best-of-five series. The series is tied 2-2 after Phoenix was defeated by Las Vegas 93-76 in Game 4 on Wednesday. Diana Taurasi was the leading scorer for Phoenix in the loss with 14 points, but Phoenix shot only 41.3% overall. Skylar Diggins-Smith also scored 14 points for Phoenix while Britney Griner added 13.

Through six games of the postseason, the leading scorer for Phoenix is Brittney Griner with an average of 19.8 points per game, while the leading rebounder is Brianna Turner with an average of 10.2 rebounds per game. Skylar Diggins-Smith is the leader in assists with an average of 5.3 per game. The second-leading scorer is Diana Taurasi with an average of 18.8 points per game.

Las Vegas was able to stave off elimination with its 17-point victory on Wednesday. Las Vegas led by just four points at halftime but outscored Phoenix 29-11 during the third quarter including a run out of 26-2 to start the second half. Chelsea Gray was the leading scorer for Las Vegas with 22 points, while Kelsey Plum scored 20 points and handed out six assists.

Through four games of the postseason, Kelsey Plum is the leading scorer for Las Vegas with an average of 19.0 points per game, while the second leading scorer is Riquna Williams with an average of 16.8 points per game. Regular season scoring leader A’ja Wilson is averaging 12.5 points and a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game. The leader in assists is Chelsea Gray with an average of 6.5 per game.