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The Phoenix Mercury threw another third-quarter haymaker Monday night but unlike two days earlier couldn’t quite knock out the Indiana Fever with one punch.
Instead, the Fever rallied from 17 down in the fourth quarter to draw as close as three with under a minute remaining at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
The Mercury (18-10) needed some Diana Taurasi magic over the final 2:10 to win 86-81, their ninth straight victory, second longest streak in the team’s 25-year history (16 in 2014 is the longest).
“The most important thing we got the W,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “We had to find a way. It wasn’t always pretty, but sometimes you have to win a little bit ugly and we got it done.”
On Saturday, the Mercury outscored the Fever 36-9 in the third quarter then coasted through the fourth to an 87-65 win.
The rematch followed a similar script through three quarters with the Mercury scoring the first 17 points of the second half to lead 60-42 midway through the third.
Phoenix still was up 77-60 with 6:11 left before Indiana (6-21) put together a 15-2 run to put the outcome back into doubt (79-75) with 3:02 left.
“They hit some shots and we had some defensive breakdowns,” Mercury guard Kia Nurse said. “I don’t think we got into a lull situation, but we just needed to close it out a little bit better than we did today.”
Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello
Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello on her team’s push for a top-four WNBA regular season finish after nine consecutive wins.
Jeff Metcalfe, Arizona Republic
That was left to Taurasi, a day after she and teammate Brittney Griner were named to the W25 list of the WNBA’s 25 greatest players in league history.
Taurasi hit a jump shot at 2:10, made three free throws at 1:31, went down with an apparent ankle injury at 35.5 seconds, returned and drew a technical foul for taking on 6-7 Teaira McCowan to protect Nurse at 21.0.
It was a string of good, bad and heart-turning Taurasi moment for the Mercury, who have yet to lose since she returned from the Olympics and need the 39-year-old superstar healthy going into the playoffs.
“She’s one of the toughest players out there,” Brondello said. “Hopefully she’ll be OK. I think she stood on someone’s foot there. There is no better closer, and that’s why she’s the GOAT. Regardless of what happens in the rest of the game, she can come out and make the big plays. That’s what makes her really special.”
Brittney Griner led the Mercury with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double. Nurse added 19 (13 in the third quarter) and Taurasi plus six assists.
The Mercury fell behind 11-2 at the outset and trailed 22-18 after the third quarter. They led 44-43 at halftime, better than on Saturday when they trailed by four before a third-quarter outburst that included an 18-0 run.
Victoria Vivians and Kelsey Mitchell combined for three 3-pointers and McCowan had four points in the Fever’s comeback. Mitchell’s reverse layup made it 84-81 with 47.9 seconds left, but she missed a 3-pointer at 21 seconds then Griner found open Brianna Turner for an open layup at 16.8.
“We didn’t want to give them a three so we were switching everything there,” Brondello said. “Kelsey Mitchell has got real long arms, and BG (Griner) was able to stay at home,” to defend the game-tying attempt. “That’s BG’s development. She changes the game defensively. We had to switch, and she handled that quite well too.”
The Mercury are just a half game behind Minnesota (18-9) and Seattle (19-10) in a battle for third through fifth place in the regular season. The third- and fourth-place finishers earn a bye in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
“It was good for us to have a close game to be quite honest,” Brondello said. “We know every game is going to be hard. It’s more how are you going to execute down the stretch.”
Mercury forward Alanna Smith missed the game due to COVID protocol.
Taurasi makes W25, still pays for dinner
Taurasi shrugged off being named to the W25 list of the WNBA’s 25 greatest players, announced on Sunday in conjunction with the league’s silver anniversary season.
“It’s just a list. It’s probably more for the fans. As a player, I never paid attention to them,” she said. “I think it’s cool to be honored in that fashion. It’s nice.”
Taurasi was on similar WNBA honorary anniversary lists in 2011 and 2016 and honorable mention in 2006. She is among the favorites to win the league’s Vote for the GOAT fan voting, which runs through Sept. 19, for the best player in league history.
As for the W25 list itself, she didn’t even know about her selection until late Sunday.
“It’s funny we were walking to dinner last night and a couple of them were like congrats and I’m like for what?” she said. “They told me on the way to dinner then I had to pay for dinner, how about that? At least they could pay for dinner.”
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi on team depth and jokes with Shey Peddy.
Jeff Metcalfe, Arizona Republic
Griner wins 4th West Player of Week award
Griner won her fourth WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week award Monday, tying Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones (East) for the most this season.
The Mercury have won four consecutive West POW honors going back to the final week before the Olympics. Griner also won July 12 and Aug. 23 and Diggins-Smith on Aug. 30.
Griner is tied with Taurasi (2008) for most Mercury POW awards in a single season and five overall matches the franchise record (also 2008).
Griner averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1 block in wins over Chicago on Aug. 31 and Indiana on Sept. 4. Her field goal percentage was 51.7 and free throw 90 percent.
“There’s still another level to BG’s game, another layer to it,” Taurasi said on Monday. “She scratches that layer every single day. Now it’s taking it to the next level, making sure we get things done going to the playoffs and going in with the mindset of really pushing ourselves to the limit.”
The 6-9 Griner is 3-of-8 from 3-point this season, up from 2-of-8 over her first eight WNBA seasons.
“I’ve been telling her for years to shoot the three because I see her shoot it every day in practice and before games,” Taurais said. “She’s got incredible touch around the basket. You’ve seen that now shooting three and the mid-range game. If she can incorporate that a little bit more, boy it’s going to be a tough load for people.”
Up next
The Mercury complete their three-game road trip at Atlanta (7-20) on Wednesday. They are 2-0 vs. the Dream, winning 92-81 on Aug. 15 and 84-69 on Aug. 21.
More: Mercury’s Taurasi, Griner chosen among WNBA top 25 players in league history
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.
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