Diana Taurasi believes the Phoenix Mercury can get back to their level of play in June when they won eight straight and were 11-2 overall.

At minimum, the Mercury likely need to go .500 over their final eight regular-season games starting Tuesday to ensure a sixth consecutive WNBA playoff appearance.

“We use everything that happened in those first 26 games to our advantage,” Taurasi said Monday. “By this time of the season, we should have everything figured out. Now it’s about application. You want to come and put it to work because what things work, what don’t work, how to approach things. And we know when we don’t come with the right approach, what’s most likely to happen. Nothing is going to be a surprise anymore.”

Actually, there is the unknown of what 6-2 forward Devereaux Peters brings to the table to help reverse a 1-6 slide leading into the WNBA All-Star Game this past weekend.

Peters has played five seasons in the WNBA including on two Minnesota Lynx championship teams and with current Mercury guard Briann January in Indiana in 2016. But how it goes with the Mercury, where she initially will back up Camille Little, remains to be seen.

MORE: Phoenix Mercury add forward Devereaux Peters for stretch run

“I actually love Phoenix as a city, I’ve always wanted to move here,” Peters said. “I have a lot of friends here so I’m excited to have the opportunity to play this season.”

Peters was in training camp with the Washington Mystics before being waived just before the season began. She was signed by the Mercury to fill a need given Sancho Lyttle’s season-ending knee injury on June 30. The signing was delayed until General Manager Jim Pitman could fit the addition under the salary cap.

“I’ve been working out because I have to prepare for overseas regardless,” Peters said. “I was enjoying the fact I had a summer off. This is an opportunity we don’t really get that often. While it sucks to not be on a team, it also was nice to get a break and spend time with my family and see friends and do things I haven’t been able to do in 10-plus years.”

Mercury coach Sandy Brondello is looking for Peters to set screens, defend and rebound, and it wouldn’t hurt if she hits an occasional outside shot.

“She has veteran experience, that helps,” Brondello said. “She’s picked up the offense pretty well. She understands defensive concepts. She has championship experience too. She’s just the kind of player we need and hopefully she’ll be a good fit for us.”

The Mercury will have 11 players available against Seattle on Tuesday for the first time since Lyttle’s injury, a major difference from their last game on July 25 when they played most of the second half with seven players and were without Taurasi (suspension) and center Brittney Griner, who was ejected.

“With the addition of Dev and Lelani (Mitchell) coming back and a couple of days to clear your mind, we’ll come back with a fresher outlook,” Taurasi said. “We’re ready to get back on the court and play our best basketball.”

The Mercury closed 6-4 after the Olympics in 2016 and 4-4 after Griner returned from injury in 2017, advancing to the WNBA playoff semifinals both years. Even though a 14-5 start has turned into 15-11, Taurasi expects a championship push out of a veteran team.

“It’s not going to be easy, but we have that potential in us,” Taurasi said. “Basketball is a game of making plays, making shots, big performances. It’s about (everyone) doing more, and that doesn’t necessarily means scoring more points. It’s the energy, being locked in, coming to practice and getting things right the first time. The margin of error gets smaller and smaller.”

Tuesday’s game

Seattle Storm at Mercury

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Streaming: Twitter.

Outlook: The Mercury (15-11) have lost six of their past seven games, falling to fifth in WNBA playoff standings. They are on a three-game losing streak for the third time this season but have yet to lose four straight. … Phoenix won 87-82 at Seattle on May 20 and lost 87-71 at home to the Storm on May 23 so this is a playoff tiebreaker game if the two are tied at the end of the regular season. … The Storm (19-7) are 8-2 in July to lead the WNBA by 2.5 games over second-place Atlanta. F Breanna Stewart leads the WNBA in scoring at 22.8 ppg and is fifth in rebounding (8.2 pg). G Sue Bird is second in league assists (7.3 pg) and recently became the WNBA career leader in games played. 

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