New York Liberty (27-17, 15-5 Eastern Conference) at Phoenix Mercury (27-17, 13-11 Western Conference)

Phoenix; Friday, 9 p.m. EDT

WNBA PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Series tied 1-1

BOTTOM LINE: The Phoenix Mercury and the New York Liberty square off in game three of the first round of the WNBA playoffs. The Mercury defeated the Liberty 86-60 in the last meeting. Satou Sabally led the Mercury with 15 points, and Emma Meesseman led the Liberty with 11 points.

The Mercury are 15-7 on their home court. Phoenix is third in the Western Conference at limiting opponent scoring, allowing 80.1 points while holding opponents to 42.7% shooting.

The Liberty are 10-12 on the road. New York is 3-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.

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 9.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 more made shots on average than the 7.9 per game Phoenix allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alyssa Thomas is scoring 15.4 points per game with 8.8 rebounds and 9.2 assists for the Mercury. Kahleah Copper is averaging 16.1 points over the last 10 games.

Natasha Cloud is averaging 10.1 points and 5.1 assists for the Liberty. Breanna Stewart is averaging 15.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mercury: 6-4, averaging 81.3 points, 34.1 rebounds, 21.7 assists, 9.2 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.2 points per game.

Liberty: 6-4, averaging 73.9 points, 34.6 rebounds, 20.1 assists, 5.9 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.9 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.