Phoenix Mercury look to regroup vs. Indiana Fever

With elite center Brittney Griner and star guard Diana Taurasi both absent from the team’s 81-66 loss to the Lynx on Sunday in Minnesota, the Mercury will look to regroup when they host the Indiana Fever on Wednesday at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

The game tips off at 12:30 p.m.

Griner, the WNBA’s leading scorer with 22.3 points per game, suffered a left knee bone bruise and a right ankle sprain in Friday’s loss to the Lynx in Phoenix. She is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

Griner was named a reserve on the Western Conference All-Star team on Tuesday, but won’t play in Saturday’s All-Star Game in Seattle.

For Taurasi, who became the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer last month, she did not make the trip to Minnesota in order to get some rest. She and Griner had been averaging more than 40 points combined per game.

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And the Lynx, the top-ranked team in the Western Conference, took advantage – riding an 18-0 third-quarter run to sweep the home-and-home set. Now, the Mercury will have to find a way to supplement Griner’s elite scoring ability.

“From the post plays, no one’s gonna fill BG’s shoes,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “But we need a little bit more from each and every one of them in the post. I want them to play to their strengths and not to do more than they need to, but being aggressive.”

Taurasi is expected to be back in action on Wednesday, and despite the back-to-back losses the Mercury aren’t ready to hit the panic button yet.

“We won four in a row and then lost two to Minnesota, the best team, so we’re not panicking at all,” Brondello said. “I thought we had a real good three quarters in Minnesota up until those last few minutes. We’ve just got to be consistent and make sure other people are stepping up and filling the hole.”

Phoenix (11-8) will look to build off the contribution it got from rookie Yvonne Turner, who posted a career-high 18 points on Sunday in Minnesota. Turner, the league’s oldest rookie at 29 years old, prides herself on being a spark plug on both ends of the court.

“I like to start with defense,” Turner said. “I like to make havoc on the defensive end but on offense I like to contribute any way I can – whether that’s distributing or scoring.”

The Fever (7-12) currently occupy last place in the Eastern Conference and enter Wednesday’s contest losers of five straight games. Indiana is led by former Mercury forward Candice Dupree, who is averaging 13.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

The Mercury will look for options up and down the roster to replace the scoring output from Griner, who was present at team practice on Tuesday. She wore a walking cast on her right ankle, a knee brace on her left leg, and was walking on crutches – but it didn’t stop her from taking some free throws and practice was wrapping up.

Still, the Mercury realize she won’t be in playing shape for close to another month. Now, they’ll look for someone to step up.

“We’re not going to change our game plan,” Turner said of Griner’s absence. “We have a great group of girls, we just need to step up another level. Most importantly, we just have to come out and play as a team and win as a team.”

This is the fifth of seven games that will be live streamed on Twitter this season.

The WNBA All-Star Game is Saturday in Seattle.

Wednesday’s game

Indiana Fever at Phoenix Mercury

When: 12:30 p.m.

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Mercury: Phoenix (11-8) is coming off two straight losses to the Minnesota Lynx after a season-high, four-game win streak. The Mercury will be without WNBA leading scorer Brittney Griner, who suffered a right ankle sprain and left knee bone bruise in Friday’s game against the Lynx. The team expects to have guard Diana Taurasi back in action after skipping Sunday’s trip to Minnesota for rest purposes. The Mercury will look to supplement Griner’s scoring from up and down the roster. “We’ve just got to keep playing as a team, and that’s where our success will come from,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. 

Fever: Indiana (7-12) has lost five straight games and is in last place in the Eastern Conference. Candice Dupree leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game. The Fever visited Phoenix earlier this season and lost, 85-62, on May 17. Indiana hosted the Mercury on June 7 and fell short, 98-90. Erica Wheeler scored a career-high 24 points in the home loss, and Dupree added 23. It was the first game since 2014 that the Fever had two players score 20 or more points in the same game.