The Phoenix Mercury will face defending the WNBA defending champion Washington Mystics in a first round elimination playoff game Tuesday.

The Mystics (9-13) clinched the No. 8 playoff seed Sunday with an 85-78 win over Atlanta.

Earlier Sunday, Dallas edged New York 82-79 to remain in the playoff hunt and would have had the tiebreaker edge had the Mystics dropped their regular season finale.

The Mercury (13-9) are the No. 5 seed. They are 2-0 against the Mystics, winning 88-87 on Aug. 23 and 94-72 five days later in back-to-back games.

DianaTaurasi scored a season high 34 points in the first meeting vs. Washington then Skylar Diggins-Smith had 24 in the rematch when Mercury guard Bria Hartley suffered a season-ending knee injury.

The Mercury are 6-1 in first- and second-round single elimination games since the current playoff format began in 2016. They reached the WNBA semifinals under that format from 2016-18 before losing in the first round last year.

Washington is without WNBA Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne among other key players from their 2019 championship team as well as free agent acquisition Tina Charles.

The Mystics won five of their last six games, led by Myisha Hines-Allen, Emma Meesseman, Ariel Atkins and former Mercury guard Leilani Mitchell to have a shot at repeating as champion.

Tip-off Tuesday is at 6 p.m. with TV coverage on ESPN2 following No. 6 seed Chicago vs. No. 7 Connecticut. 

The Phoenix-Washington winner will play in a second round elimination game Thursday. If the Mercury win, they would face No. 4 Minnesota (14-8) in the second round. 

Las Vegas edged Seattle 86-84 to earn the No. 1 playoff seed ahead of the Storm. Both finished with an 18-4 record and will sit out the first and second rounds before playing in best-of-5 semifinal series starting Sept. 20. Los Angeles (15-7) is the No. 3 seed.

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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