WNBA: Clash between Mercury, Liberty highlights action-packed weekend

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The 2025 WNBA playoff race is heating up! With just under two weeks remaining in the regular season, teams like the Indiana Fever (20-18) and Los Angeles Sparks (17-19) are still fighting for a spot in the playoffs, making their head-to-head matchup on Friday (ION, 10 p.m. ET) especially crucial.

There’s still plenty to play for near the top of the standings, too. The Phoenix Mercury (24-14) and New York Liberty (24-15) have been two of the best teams in the WNBA in 2025, and while both of them have all but clinched a spot in the playoffs, they’re still fighting for the highest possible postseason seed. With just a half-game separating the Mercury and Liberty in the standings, you can bet both teams will be giving it their all when they meet this Saturday (10 p.m. ET, NBA TV).

Needless to say, there will be a lot to watch for this weekend, and most games will have some sort of playoff implications. Let’s take a closer look at some of the higher-profile matchups ahead of an action-packed slate.

Can the playoff-hungry Sparks overcome the shorthanded Fever?

It’s been a tale of two halves for the Sparks, who entered the All-Star break with an 8-14 record but have gone 9-5 since. A playoff berth that seemed almost completely unfathomable just weeks ago now appears to be well within their grasp.

The Sparks are still only in ninth place, though, so they’ll have to beat a couple of the teams ahead of them in the standings if they’re going to finish their Cinderella story. The sixth-place Fever are one of those teams; they, too, are fighting for their playoff lives, having lost four of their last six games, and they’re desperate for a win that will put some distance between themselves and the seventh-place Seattle Storm (21-19).

There will be a lot on Kelsey Mitchell’s plate as she leads the Fever against the Sparks.

NBAE via Getty Images

Indiana has been ravaged by injuries, however, especially in its backcourt. Caitlin Clark hasn’t played in over a month due to a groin injury, while Aari McDonald, Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham all recently suffered season-ending injuries of their own. Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston continue playing at a star level, but that hasn’t been enough to carry the Fever to the lofty expectations set for them prior to the season, and if they’re going to hang onto their spot in the standings, they’ll need someone else to step up and give their starters a bit of a reprieve.

If Los Angeles is going to make its move, now seems like the perfect opportunity to do it. The Sparks have already beaten the Fever twice this season, totaling 189 points in those two games, and Indiana’s depth has only worsened since then. The Sparks aren’t exactly playing championship-caliber defense, though, allowing 109.1 points per 100 possessions; that’s the second-highest defensive rating in the WNBA, so it’s entirely possible that they’ll be in another barn burner no matter who the Fever put on the floor.

The Liberty take on the Mercury in a close race for the No. 4 seed

The Liberty are in a somewhat similar situation to the Fever in that their injury report is getting to be alarmingly extensive. Of course, at 24-15, the defending champs probably aren’t sweating it quite as much; they were down three starters, including Sabrina Ionescu, Natasha Cloud and Jonquel Jones, in their most recent game against the Washington Mystics (16-23) but still managed to win by a comfortable margin.

New York shouldn’t be content with simply coasting the rest of the way, though. The Liberty are currently in a tight race with the Mercury for the No. 4 seed, which is fairly important in the grand scheme of things, as it guarantees that whichever team finishes there will open its first-round playoff series at home.

New York’s Breanna Stewart and Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas are two perennial All-WNBA honorees at the power forward position.

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And speaking of a first-round playoff series, New York vs. Phoenix is looking like a real possibility. There’s not much separating them from the Atlanta Dream (24-14) or Las Vegas Aces (26-14), either, but for right now, Saturday’s game between the Liberty and Mercury is a first-round playoff preview. Each team has its own strengths–Phoenix excels at taking advantages of matchups in a positionless system and creating havoc on defense, while New York fields several strong playmakers and leads the league in assist rate–and they’ve got a lot of star power too. Between Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, the Liberty and Mercury should be well-represented when it comes time to announce end-of-season awards.

As for Saturday, we’ll see how many of those players take the court. The Liberty will surely want to keep their stars as healthy as possible for when it comes time to defend their title, but the Mercury have proven all season that they’re not a team to be taken lightly. Phoenix currently leads its regular-season series against the Liberty 2-1, which adds even more meaning to Saturday’s game. Should the two teams finish the season tied in the standings, head-to-head record will be the first tiebreaker, which the Mercury would obviously like to have on their side.