Shock-Mercury Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Jun 12 2010 1:25AM

Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury already showed the Tulsa Shock once what it's like to play against their up-tempo style.

The reigning league MVP will try to take advantage of what's sure to be a tired Shock team Saturday night when the Mercury look for a third straight home victory.

When Tulsa (3-5) relocated from Detroit, it hired Nolan Richardson to coach the team in his vaunted "40 minutes of hell" style. The franchise previously employed a bruising, halfcourt style under former coach Bill Laimbeer and then Rick Mahorn.

Phoenix (4-5), meanwhile, has long set the standard in playing at a frenetic pace, leading the league with 89.6 points per game this season and winning its second WNBA title last year.

The teams' first matchup at the BOK Center on May 25 was dominated by the defending champions in a 110-96 victory. Taurasi scored a season-high 35 points and made eight 3-pointers.

It will be interesting to see how Richardson's club fares in the second game of its second back-to-back set this season. The first one didn't go so well last Saturday when the Shock fell 95-70 at Chicago after beating Minnesota at home the night before.

Tulsa lost its second straight Friday, 87-75 at San Antonio. The Shock committed a season-high 29 turnovers that led to 18 points.

"The turnovers we committed tonight were really embarrassing to me from a standpoint of when you pride yourself in making the opponent turn it over," Richardson said. ``They didn't press us or do anything, and when you turn it over that many times and the opponent's not pressing you, you've got some serious issues with handling the basketball.''

Finding a way to slow down Taurasi will be another problem. The superstar guard was at her best again Thursday with 31 points in a 99-88 win over Minnesota.

Taurasi, who celebrated her 28th birthday Friday, scored Phoenix's first 10 points of the fourth quarter. The Mercury made 14 of 34 3-pointers and lead the league by shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.

The win began a critical four-game homestand for Phoenix, which is in second place in the mediocre Western Conference despite its losing record.

"It's going to be important having our home crowd behind us in these next few games," center Tangela Smith told the Mercury's official website. "We need these wins, so it's comforting knowing that we'll have the opportunity to try and get as many as possible in our arena with the fans behind us."

Taurasi, Dupree lead Mercury past Shock, 116-84

Posted Jun 13 2010 1:11AM

PHOENIX(AP) Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree scored 18 points each to lead a balanced offense as the Phoenix Mercury had a franchise-record scoring total in a 116-84 victory over the Tulsa Shock on Saturday night.

Penny Taylor had 14 points and a career high-tying eight assists, Taylor Lilley also scored 14 points, and Temeka Johnson and Nicole Ohlde added 11 each to help defending WNBA champion Phoenix (5-5) win consecutive games for the first time this season.

``We are getting a little sense on how good we can be,'' Taurasi said. ``We can't be complacent. We can't be happy with winning two in a row. But on the other side, it feels good to go out there and you know the hard work and kind of learning from our losses, putting them into playing games and seeing success.''

The Mercury's fast-paced offense led to plenty of easy baskets in transition and off rebounds, and Phoenix scored a franchise-record 59 points in the first half. The previous mark was 58, scored against the Shock on May 25. The Mercury also tied a team record with 29 assists.

Dupree was 9 for 9 from the field as Phoenix shot 53 percent and made a season-low nine turnovers.

``It's the turnovers that was the problem before, `` Mercury coach Corey Gaines said. ``We're starting to make the easy play, easy pass, shot there, real simple basketball.''

Shanna Crossley scored 17 points to lead the Shock (3-6), who lost their third straight - including an 87-75 defeat at San Antonio on Friday night. Kara Braxton and Amber Holt had 13 points each, and Kiesha Brown added 10.

``After being beat by that much I don't think fatigue was necessarily the main issue,'' Crossley said. ``We had a back-to-back last week and we're learning how to overcome that and come back from that night before. It goes a lot deeper than just fatigue and being tired from the game before.''

Former world-class sprinter Marion Jones played just over 10 minutes for Tulsa, and scored a season-high four points.

The Mercury honored center Tangela Smith in a pregame ceremony for becoming the fourth player in WNBA history to record 4,500 career points and 2,000 rebounds. Smith joined Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson and Lauren Jackson with that distinction.

• Shock: --
• Mercury: --

• Shock: --
• Mercury: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #27 Penny Davis, #55 Eric Brewton
• Attendance: 6580
• Duration: 1:46