Mercury runs away from Wings in second half to open playoffs

By Scott Mammoser

TEMPE, Ariz.- Diana Taurasi was undefeated in winner-take-all elimination games with the Phoenix Mercury (12-0), and with 26 points and 12 assists on Tuesday, that  streak survived another test. Combined with DeWanna Bonner’s 29 points and 11 rebounds and Brittney Griner’s 17 points, the Mercury crushed the Dallas Wings, 101-83, in the opening game of the WNBA Playoffs at Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State University.

Mercury advance to second round with win over the Wings

The Mercury will play the fourth-seeded Connecticut Sun in the second round, which is also single elimination at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The winner of that game will play either Seattle or Atlanta in a best-of-five semifinals series.

“I’m satisfied with the win,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “We had really good energy coming out of the locker room. We picked up aggressiveness on the defensive end. We have a team full of veterans and winners; it was more about being aggressive. We were too aggressive on the ball early on. She (Taurasi) just makes plays, that’s what the greatest scorer off all-time does, she just has that vision. She has to be right up there for the MVP in my opinion.”

After a Glory Johnson three cut Phoenix’s lead to one, Taurasi responded with one of her own with eight seconds to the break, and the Mercury carried a 53-49 edge. And wouldn’t you know it, on the opening possession of the second half, she buried another one for a seven-point lead. By the end of the third quarter, the Mercury built a 20-point lead and finished with a 79-64 lead advantage.

“We knew the circumstances today,” Taurasi said. “It’s been an up and down season for us, but at the core, we know we’re a really good team. At halftime, when you can make in-game adjustments like that, I think that shows the maturity of this team and the experience. Things can get overwhelming some times.”

For the game, the Mercury hammered the Wings from downtown, going 13-of-29, as opposed to 4-of-19 for Dallas, with Taurasi connecting on six and Bonner four.

“As long as they go in,” said Bonner, who was celebrating her 31^st birthday. “This is eight, nine years in the making here. I always know when Diana has the ball, but sometimes she surprises me.”

Liz Cambage, who set the WNBA record with 53 points last month, scored 22 for the Wings, along with grabbing 12 rebounds. Cambage, who also scored 43 on Friday in the win that clinched the final playoff berth, led the league in scoring with 23 points per game and was second in rebounding to Sylvia Fowles with nearly 10 per game. Skylar Diggins-Smith led Dallas with 23 points on Tuesday.

A continuing trend in this late season for the Mercury was the emergence of Stephanie Talbot in the starting lineup. She recorded her first career double-double on Tuesday with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“We knew if we could get the penetration, the three-point shot is going to be there,” Brondello added. “We have great shooters, but we still want to get the best shot every possession. We’re back playing good basketball, July was a tough month for us. This team is driven. This team is very deep and productive.” 

Mercury closes regular season with victory over Liberty

By Scott Mammoser

Mercury wins final regular season game over Liberty 96-85.

PHOENIX - After a tight first half, the Phoenix Mercury (20-14) took care of business, knowing it controlled its own destiny for playoff seeding, and ran away from the New York Liberty, 96-85, on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the Connecticut Sun defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 89-86, to lock up the fourth seed, and gave Phoenix a chance to slide into position No. 5 with a win. The Sparks owned the tiebreakers against the Mercury, so a loss to the Liberty would have matched Phoenix with the defending champion Lynx in the first round as the sixth seed.

Kia Nurse scored 22 of her 28 points in the first half and played the entire 40 minutes for the Liberty. The game was even at 27-27 after the first quarter, and the Mercury held a 49-46 edge at the break. The team stormed out of halftime with a Stephanie Talbot three pointer and outscored New York, 29-13, to take a 78-59 lead, while holding Nurse to two points. 

Talbot, who broke her nose early in the game, returned to score 18 points, second-most on the Mercury to DeWanna Bonner’s 23. Bonner also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

“We knew we didn’t bring enough intensity for that first half and obviously Kia Nurse was on fire,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “We just needed to pick up our intensity and focus, and we’ve done that a lot over our past few games. It was all about getting that momentum at the right time.”

The Mercury shot 15-of-31 from downtown for the game and took a high lead of 21 points during the spurt.

“It’s important to us to get in the playoffs and make a run,” said Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, who scored 16 and passed Tamika Catchings as the WNBA’s career leader in made free throws on Sunday. “We’ve won three championships, so we know what it takes. It’s not easy, but we are willing to sacrifice and get it done.”

The New York Liberty definitely did not look like a team that was 7-27 during the first half. Even with former All-Stars Epiphanny Prince and Shavonte Zellous sidelined with injuries, the Liberty fought until the end. Nurse, the rookie from UConn who will play for Canada in the World Cup next month, found praise from Liberty coach Katie Smith following the game.

“She’s done a nice job,” said Smith, who will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame as a player on September 7. “She came in as a three baller, and she’s done a better job putting the ball on the floor, doing some of the things her coaches tell her to do. Her aggressive nature on both ends, she’s always bringing energy around the floor. Good things happen from start to finish, and I’m also impressed with the way she’s stepped right in with the mental approach, as well.”

The Mercury returns to the playoffs for the sixth-consecutive season at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. A win sends it to Connecticut for the second round, which is also single elimination, on Thursday. The Sparks will host the Lynx, in a rematch of the past two Finals at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Seattle and Atlanta are the top two seeds and have double byes, while Washington is the third seed.

Mercury’s win over Dream clinches home playoff game

By Scott Mammoser

PHOENIX- Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and DeWanna Bonner seem to be peaking just in time for the playoffs. The All-Star trio all recorded double-doubles to lead the Phoenix Mercury to a 104-95 win over the Atlanta Dream on Friday. The win puts the Mercury (19-14) in sixth place entering the final regular season game at 3 p.m. on Sunday against the New York Liberty (7-26). The Dream (22-11) is in Las Vegas (14-19) at the same time on Sunday, and it is holding on to the tiebreaker with the Mystics (22-11) for the second seed and double byes.

Mercury Clinches Home Playoff Game in Victory over Dream

Guaranteed either a fifth-or-sixth-place finish now locks the Mercury into a single elimination home playoff game on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. This time and opponent are to be determined.

“We’re shooting the ball well and we have that confidence,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “Every game is a new challenge for us, and I think we did a good job of executing the scout for the most part.”

In addition to scoring 27 points, Taurasi equaled her career high of 14 assists. In her 15-year Hall of Fame career, you only need to go back to Sunday’s win over the Sparks to find the only other time Taurasi dished out 14.

“Atlanta has been playing really well,” Taurasi said. “And, we’ve been on a little roll lately, just playing better. A lot of people are getting more comfortable with certain things we are trying to do. Our spacing is getting better, we’re concentrating on where we want to trap and doing a better job exploiting that.”

Griner scored 33 with 18 rebounds, going over 3,000 points for her career, while Bonner scored 21 and equaled her career best with 16 rebounds and seven assists.

Also stepping up for the Mercury was Briann January with 16 points, and the ASU assistant coach will return to play on the court where she played collegiately for the playoff game.

The Dream, playing in the wake of losing two-time Olympic gold medalist Angel McCoughtry for the season, also lost Brittney Sykes, the second-year player from Syracuse averaging 10 points per game, who was ejected midway through the third quarter. Alex Bentley led Atlanta off the bench with a season-high 24 points and personal-best 6-of-8 performance from downtown. Tiffany Hayes scored 21, as well.

“We are just focused right now,” Bonner said. “We’re getting there, you can never just say we’re getting there. You can’t get too high or too low, we know what we need to do, it’s a grind, and right now, we are just riding the wave because we can’t have any mishaps at this point of the season.”

Mercury’s Big Three rises to occasion in playoff-chase win over Sparks

By Scott Mammoser

Mercury wins in intense 86-78 game against the Sparks

PHOENIX- With home-court advantage on the line for the postseason, the Phoenix Mercury played some of its most-intense basketball this season in an 86-78 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday.

DeWanna Bonner scored a season-high 30 points, going 5-of-11 from downtown, Brittney Griner collected a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Diana Taurasi dished a career-high 14 assists to go along with 20 points. Any time you see the words career-high after Taurasi’s name, you know it’s something major. Griner’s nine double-doubles on the season are also the most in her six-year career.

It was the Mercury’s first win over a team currently in playoff positioning since July 5 over Connecticut, a span of 12 games (3-9). The victory equalizes the Mercury (18-14) with the Sparks (18-13) in wins, along with the Sun (18-13), as the three teams occupy the fourth-through-sixth seeds going into the final week of the regular season.

“We need more scoring from more people,” Taurasi said. “It was a big game for us. We’re trying to play well and feel good going into the playoffs.”

Bonner paused and launched a half court shot to put the Mercury up by 13 at the end of the third. She had 11 in the period as the team erased a six-point deficit.

“I just really wanted to win,” Bonner said. “I really wanted to beat them, and right now, we need to find a good rhythm to get ready for the playoffs. That was my mindset.”

Sparks two-time MVP Candace Parker opened the first quarter 6-of-7 from the floor with 15 points and five rebounds and finished with 23 and eight. Maria Vadeeva, the 20-year-old Russian rookie, increased her career-high in scoring from 10 to 16 in just 15 minutes.

“This is more about us building momentum and us playing the way we are capable of playing for 40 minutes,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “The last two games have been consistent. The bench came on and made good plays. We are playing well, and that’s what it all comes down to in the playoffs, so we can come out there in any situation.”

The Mercury has two regular season games remaining, both at home, at 7 p.m. on Friday against Atlanta and at 3 p.m. on August 19 versus New York. The Sparks host the Liberty on Tuesday and close out the campaign on the road in Washington and Connecticut on August 17 and 19.

Playoff-bound Mercury gains confidence in win over Fever

By Scott Mammoser

PHOENIX- Playing for the first time with the knowledge that it clinched a playoff berth, the Phoenix Mercury leveled the last-place Indiana Fever, 94-74, on Friday night.

The team never trailed and went up by as many as 27 to improve to 17-14. The tight playoff race, of where the Mercury can finish anywhere between second and eighth, continues at 4 p.m. on Sunday against the Los Angeles Sparks (ESPN2). The Fever (5-25) progresses its West Coast swing in Las Vegas at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, third and fourth in the league in scoring, paced the way with 14 and 12 points, but rested for much of the second half. It was a great chance for the likes of Yvonne Turner, Leilani Mitchell and Stephanie Talbot to take control.

Mercury clinch playoff birth berth then level Fever by 20, 94-74.

“We clinched the playoff berth, but we want to keep the momentum going into the playoffs and want to win these last four games,” said Talbot, who scored 14 points. “This is a good start. We played good team defense and worked together as a team today. Yvonne came in today and hit some big shots, Lei, as well. They were both big for us.”

Turner scored 10 points, while Mitchell was 3-of-6 from downtown for nine points. In addition, DeWanna Bonner pulled in her fifth double double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“Everybody played loose tonight and played their game,” Bonner said. “It’s been a long time coming (the win), but it’s a great opportunity for our team.”

Bonner added that it is relatively awkward to play against her wife (Candice Dupree) and sister (Erica McCall), both on the Fever, but as soon as they leave the court, their family life is restored.

“Sometimes we come out and our focus is not what it should be,” said Mercury coach Sandy Brondello, who became the first coach in franchise history with 100 wins on Friday. “The girls came out and really executed the scout. We talked about getting our bench going, so it all worked out anyways.”

Fever rookie Kelsey Mitchell, the four-time All-American from Ohio State, scored 20 points (4-of-9 from three-point range), and at 13 points per game, is having one of the finer first seasons in WNBA history, despite the losses. Tiffany Mitchell added 17 points and nine rebounds off the bench, and Cappie Pondexter scored 10.

“It’s important that we attack the basketball, get some open looks and knock them down,” Fever coach Pokey Chatman said. “They had 41 points in transition. You can’t do that to any team, let alone a team that’s hungry and fighting for playoff position.”

Mercury continues sliding with loss to Seattle

BY SCOTT MAMMOSER

PHOENIX- In a league where two-games dictate the difference from second place to ninth, the first-place Seattle Storm continued to separate itself from the rest of the parity-driven WNBA with a 102-91 win at the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday.

Jewell Loyd, who averages 16 points per game versus the rest of the league and what feels like 30 when she plays the Mercury, finished with 29.  Breanna Stewart, leading the league in scoring at 22.8 points per game, added 16 for the Storm (19-8).

Mercury in a slump, losing 7 of last 8 games.

Phoenix (15-12) lost for the seventh time in the past eight games, with the lone win coming at lowly Indiana (3-23). Diana Taurasi scored 14 on 4-of-9 shooting in the first quarter, twice as much as any other player, but cooled down at concluded with 20. Brittney Griner scored 25 points and tied Briann January with a game-high seven assists, plus DeWanna Bonner scored 14.

“That’s a great team out there,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said of the Storm. “They have so many weapons. They have the best point guard ever to play the game (Sue Bird). They have (Natasha) Howard impacting, Loyd always playing well against us, and players coming off the bench and doing their jobs. But don’t sympathize with us, we can’t allow teams to score 102 points. We need to get better at playing defense.”

Bird only scored five points, but watching the 37-year-old weaving through the open court and setting up the offense still feels like spotting a cheetah on safari. Howard added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Alysha Clark scored 13.

Seattle, with Loyd going 5-of-7, slaughtered the Mercury from downtown, shooting 50 percent opposed to Phoenix’s 23 percent.

The Mercury added more size upfront with the signing of former Notre Dame and Minnesota Lynx forward Devereaux Peters this week, replacing the injured Sancho Lyttle. Peters graduated a year prior to Loyd’s arrival on the campus in South Bend.

“I just missed her,” Peters said of Loyd. “That’s my girl though, I heavily recruited her because she’s from Chicago. I was always at her high school games, we always hung out. That’s my girl!”

The Mercury will play its final two regular season road games at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Las Vegas and at 4 p.m. on Sunday in Los Angeles. A 7 p.m. tip on August 7 against the Washington Mystics begins a string of five-straight to close the year. The Storm hosts Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Friday.

“We have to get better if we want to go far in the playoffs,” Brondello said. “We need everyone to step up and shoot the ball with confidence. We need to stay aggressive and move the ball.”