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Diana Taurasi will be playing in her 60th WNBA playoff game Tuesday.
She’s won 35 — 21 of those during championship runs in 2007, 2009 and 2014 — and is 13-1 in elimination games.
Her first-year Phoenix Mercury running mate Skylar Diggins-Smith is 0-2 in the playoffs. So when Taurasi describes the difference between the regular season and postseason as “apples and watermelons,” Diggins-Smith is a willing listener.
“I’m learning on the job to be honest,” Diggins-Smith said Monday. “We’re all taking cues from Dee (Taurasi) and Sandy (Brondello), people that have won championships before. I know it’s going to be intense. Nobody wants to go home. We know there’s a lot at stake and it’s all or nothing with these single elimination games. We have to approach the game with the mentality to execute and play defense.”
The Mercury are making their eighth consecutive playoff appearance but the first in that run without 6-9 center Brittney Griner, who has been out since Aug. 21 for personal reasons. They are 7-3 without Griner including 2-0 vs. Washington, their first-round playoff opponent at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The Mystics (9-13) won five of their final six games to edge Dallas for the No. 8 playoff seed and a chance to defend their WNBA title.
The Mercury (13-9) are the No. 5 seed for the for the third time in five years under the current playoff format and three times have reached the WNBA semifinals and are a combined 6-1 in first/second-round elimination games.
Taurasi and Diggins-Smith are the top scoring duo in the WNBA, combining for 36.4 points per game. The Mercury’s postseason hopes hinge not only on their production but ability to take advantage of the defense throwing traps and double teams their way.
The Mercury lost two of their final three regular season games — to Connecticut and Seattle — in large part because the Mercury did not have a reliable post scoring presence (aka Griner) and that hole could become more pronounced given the watermelon-sized defensive intensity ahead.
“It’s more about us being able to move the ball quicker out of those kind of situations then the players around them being aggressive,” said Brondello, in her seventh season as Mercury coach. “If they’re not taking the open shots, it really doesn’t help us. We’re got to make sure we’re exploiting the traps if they’re leaving you open knocking down those shots. That will help take away some of the aggressive action they want to show (vs. the guards).”
Center Kia Vaughn has had five double-figure scoring games since replacing Griner in the starting lineup, including a pair of 16-point outings vs. Washington. She and forward Brianna Turner will need to be threats in addition to their defense and rebounding to keep the Mystics honest.
Also forward Alanna Smith is returning from an ankle injury (Nia Coffey remains out) to boost the Mercury’s post depth.
Washington has been without 2019 WNBA Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne, free agent acquisition Tina Charles, Natasha Cloud and LaToya Sanders all season in addition to losing Kristi Toliver and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (now with Phoenix) during the off season. Aerial Powers only played six games due to injury.
Now the Mystics are relying on center Myisha Hines-Allen, a leading contender for league Most Improved Player and Eastern Conference Player of the Week, forward Emma Meesseman and guards Ariel Atkins and Leilani Mitchell, who played for the Mercury in 2015 and 2017-19.
“The players that came back from last year, they have seen themselves only as winners,” Mystics coach Mike Thibault said. “It was embarrassing to them (to start 4-12) and frustrating. Basically it was we’re not going down without a fight. However this works out, we’re going to feel good about how we’re playing wherever we end up.
“After we lost the Dallas game (Sept. 6), the answer was why not win the rest. We’re playing good enough basketball. I’m just proud of their pro mentality. It’s like we’re good basketball players, we’ve been dealt a tough hand, but let’s at least finish showing people who we are.”
This is the first playoff meeting between Phoenix and Washington. The winner moves on to a second-round elimination game Thursday, which in the Mercury’s case would be against No. 4 seed Minnesota (14-8). Best-of-5 semifinal series begin Sunday.
The Mercury were seeded No. 8 in the 2019 playoffs and lost in the first round to Chicago, 105-76. They were without Taurasi against the Sky due to a hamstring injury and Griner only played 13 minutes because of a first-half knee injury.
Because the Mercury played for three weeks without Griner and two without guard Bria Hartley, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Washington on Aug. 28, and still had their most sustained success of the season offers hope that they could advance to the semifinals.
But the margin to win at all is slim and perhaps too heavily dependent on Taurasi and Diggins-Smith.
“We’ve got to get out of the traps fast, we’ve got to do more in transition,” Diggins-Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of players. As long as we’re all just aggressive and everybody being in attack mode. That needs to be our mindset, just leave it all on the floor.”
- Games: 59
- Points: 1,228
- Points per game: 20.8
- Field goals: 410
- 3-pointers: 166
- Free throws: 242
- Assists: 247
- Steals: 55
- Blocks: 37
Up next
Washington Mystics vs. Phoenix Mercury, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida, 6 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN2 — The No. 5 seed Mercury (13-9) are making their eighth consecutive WNBA playoff appearance and facing No. 8 Washington (9-13) for the first time in the postseason. The Mercury won both regular season meetings, 88-87 on Aug. 23 and 94-72 on Aug. 28. The Mystics are defending WNBA champions. The winner plays in a second-round elimination game Thursday.
More: Diana Taurasi adds to her legacy with All-WNBA caliber play at age 38
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.
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