The latest reports seem to indicate that the Mercury will not have Taylor at all this season. While that's certainly a blow to Phoenix's chances of repeating as WNBA champions, it is not necessarily a fatal one. Already this season, the Mercury has shown the ability to beat the league's elite teams, including Connecticut (both home and away) and Los Angeles (on the road).

Surprisingly, Phoenix has scarcely missed Taylor's highly-efficient offense. The run-and-gun Paulball attack established by former Head Coach Paul Westhead has been just as effective this season under Corey Gaines, a Westhead protégé. Last year, the Mercury had the league's best offense even when adjusting for the team's fast pace, averaging 106.5 points per 100 possessions. This year, Phoenix's Offensive Rating is up ever so slightly to 106.8 points per 100 possessions.

How has the Mercury replaced Taylor, who averaged 17.8 points per game last season and shot 49.9 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from downtown? That has started with increased contributions from superstars Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi. Having averaged a combined 44.8 points per game in 2006, Pondexter's rookie season and Westhead's first year in Phoenix, the duo slipped to 36.4 points a night last year. That was largely because of increased contributions from Taylor, who increased her scoring average by 3.9 points per game and played a full season after missing the first 14 games of 2006 while in her native Australia.

This year, Pondexter and Taurasi have surpassed their 2006 output. Taurasi's 24.3 points per game lead the WNBA; Pondexter ranks second at 22.9 points a night. That's a combined 47.2 points. The next-best scoring duo, Minnesota's Seimone Augustus and Candice Wiggins, combines for 36.0 points per game. All the extra scoring would be meaningless if Taurasi and Pondexter were sacrificing efficiency for volume. The strength of their game, however, lies in their seemingly-effortless ability to create offense. Taurasi's True Shooting Percentage (61.3 percent) is very strong and actually an improvement on last year's 58.5 percent mark. Pondexter's 52.4 percent True Shooting Percentage is not nearly as efficient, but identical to what she did a year ago.

The Mercury also used free agency to come up with a surprisingly effective replacement for Taylor in the starting lineup. In four seasons with Connecticut, Le'Coe Willingham never averaged more than 3.0 points per game. Having signed with Phoenix, Willingham moved into the starting lineup in the second game of the season and has broken out, averaging 9.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on 54.5 percent shooting. Storm guard Sheryl Swoopes calls Willingham the Mercury's X-factor because of her ability to finish in the paint.

As well as Phoenix has played on offense, the defense has been a disappointment. The Mercury spent most of the last two seasons with Taylor, 6-1 and naturally a small forward, playing an undersized power forward. Playing with the bigger Willingham (6-0 but well-built) figured to improve Phoenix's defense. Instead, it has gone backwards.

A year ago, the Mercury allowed 101.1 points per 100 possessions, ranking 11th out of the 13 WNBA teams but only slightly below league average. This year, Phoenix's Defensive Rating has gone up to 107.7, better than only the expansion Atlanta Dream and nine points per 100 possessions worse than average. Even as the Mercury has played better over the last month, it has been on the strength of strong offense, not because of improved defense.

Even with the porous defense, Phoenix remains one of the league's scariest opponents because of the team's ability to put up huge offensive numbers on any given night. Along with limited preparation time, that worries Storm Head Coach Brian Agler.

"I'm looking at this little window we're in and concerned about someone coming in averaging 90 points a game," Agler said after Tuesday's practice.

"I think they're starting to find their groove a little bit. They definitely have a lot of weapons. They have some of the better players in the world on that team."

At the same time, the Storm comes in riding high. Thursday's comfortable win at Sacramento was the Storm's fourth straight, all by double-digits. The Storm defense has been phenomenal in that span and the team has also dominated the defensive glass, allowing just four offensive boards to the strong-rebounding Monarchs. The last time these teams met, the Storm set franchise records for both offensive rebounds and total rebounds in a game. Seattle has taken both head-to-head matchups thus far and has a chance to win the season series and secure the tiebreaker with a victory. (The teams complete the series Aug. 25 in Phoenix, when the Storm will be wrapping up a four-game road trip without star forward Lauren Jackson.)

Swoopes hopes to be at full strength after her sore left knee limited her to 10 minutes of reserve duty against Sacramento. Tanisha Wright stepped into the starting lineup for Swoopes and was excellent, finishing with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.

KEY MATCHUP
	In the June 11 Storm victory at KeyArena, Phoenix played without starting center Tangela Smith. The loss of the team's third-leading scorer hurt the Mercury, who saw just Pondexter and Taurasi score double-figures. In the first meeting between these teams, Smith had 14 points and eight rebounds. She is a presence in the paint but also effective pulling Storm center Yolanda Griffith away from the basket with her three-point range. Griffith's powerful rebounding will be important to the Storm in setting an early tone on the glass.

Taurasi's phenomenal night wasn't enough to lead Phoenix to victory on June 11 in Seattle. Despite 37 points from Taurasi, celebrating her 26th birthday, the Storm still held on for an 83-77 victory. It was an 11-point Storm advantage early in the fourth quarter before Taurasi and Pondexter made things interesting, combining for 23 of the Mercury's 28 points in the final period.

The Storm dominated the glass against Phoenix, grabbing 23 offensive rebounds and 52 total boards, both franchise records. Jackson led the way with a season-high 14 boards, eight of them offensive. Griffith grabbed nine boards and Sue Bird tied her career high with eight rebounds. Jackson scored 20 points, while Swin Cash and Swoopes added 17 apiece. Taurasi made seven three-pointers and was 13-of-20 from the field. Pondexter was not as hot, needing 22 shots to score her 18 pints. She handed out seven assists.

INJURIES

Storm - Guard Sheryl Swoopes (sore left knee) is a game-time decision.

Phoenix - None.