How They Got Here: Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury has won two elimination games in the 2017 WNBA Playoffs and will now face the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2017 WNBA Playoff Semifinals. Here’s a look at how the Mercury has gotten to this point.
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- Diana Taurasi signed a multi-year contract extension with the Mercury. The Mercury drafted her first overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft, and she has been a part of the franchise since. After her first 13 years in the league, she is a three-time WNBA Champion, seven-time WNBA All-Star, two-time WNBA Finals MVP, and 2009 WNBA MVP.
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- In the second game of the season, Brittney Griner scored a career-high 32 points in the Mercury’s 85-62 win over the Indiana Fever. She was 13-for-15 from the field (86.7%), and hit 6-of-8 free throws. She also added 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year.
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- In a 99-91 win over the Chicago Sky, Diana Taurasi broke the WNBA all-time record for three-pointers made. In the game, she also tied a WNBA record (that she co-owns), for threes in a game, knocking down eight. She finished with 37 points, the most for her since 2010. She now has hit 996 threes in regular season play during her career.
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- Brittney Griner scored a WNBA-season high, and established a new career-high with 38 points in the Mercury’s 98-90 victory over the Indiana Fever at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Griner was 15-for-19 from the field (78.9%), hit 8-of-10 free throws, and added nine rebounds in the game.
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- The Mercury fell in the final seconds to the reigning WNBA champions, the Los Angeles Sparks. Diana Taurasi hit a three pointer with 5.1 seconds left in the game to cut the Sparks lead to just one, but the Mercury couldn’t mount the last minute comeback and lost 89-87.
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- In the Mercury’s 86-78 victory over the Chicago Sky at Talking Stick Resort Arena, Brittney Griner scored her 2,000th career point. She finished with 27 points in the game, hitting exactly 2,000 career points after the win.
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- Diana Taurasi became the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer during the Mercury’s game in Los Angeles against the Sparks. Taurasi passed Tina Thompson’s previous record of 7,488 points (over 496 career games), in just 377 contests. As of September 3, 2017, Taurasi has accumulated 7,867 regular season points during her 13-year career.
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- The Mercury acquired guard/forward Monique Currie from the San Antonio Stars, in exchange for Shay Murphy, Sophie Brunner, and a 2018 third-round pick. The 12-year veteran played for the Mercury in 2015, averaging 8.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 34 appearances.
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- Diana Taurasi was named a starter on the Western Conference All-Star Team. She has now been a starter in all eight seasons she was eligible during her 13-year career.
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- Diana Taurasi competed in the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game in Seattle, Wash. As a Western Conference starter, Taurasi finished the game with 12 points, five assists, and two rebounds in 19 minutes on the floor. Brittney Griner was named to the roster, but was a reserve player due to injury.
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- The Mercury clinched a franchise record fifth-straight playoff appearance, the ninth in the past 11 years, and 12th overall. Head Coach Sandy Brondello became the first Mercury coach to make the postseason four seasons in a row.
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- Brittney Griner won the WNBA’s Peak Performer award, as the league’s top scorer in the regular season. Griner, who averaged 21.9 points in 2017, became the first true center in league history to lead the league in scoring. She was the only player to average over 20 points this season, becoming one of just five players in Mercury history to do so.
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- The Mercury started the postseason with a 79-69 victory over the Seattle Storm. The Storm and Mercury battled back and forth throughout the game, until Taurasi and Griner helped the Mercury pull ahead in the final minutes. With 1:12 left in the game, and Phoenix up by just four points, Taurasi drained a three-pointer, before scooping a one-handed pass across to Leilani Mitchell on the next possession, who hit the dagger corner three.
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- The Mercury completed a 17-point comeback in the second single=elimination round of the WNBA Playoffs, defeating the Connecticut Sun, 88-83, and advancing to the semifinals. Brittney Griner led the floor with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Diana Taurasi finished with 23 points and four assists. Leilani Mitchell and Monique Currie each added 12 points. Taurasi is now 11-0 in elimination games in her career, and the Mercury is on a five-game winning streak heading into a best-of-five series with the Los Angeles Sparks.
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- The Mercury will face the second-seeded Los Angeles Sparks in a best-of-five WNBA Semifinals series, with a berth to the WNBA Finals on the line. The Mercury and Sparks will get underway in Game 1 at 7 p.m. from Staples Center on ESPN2.
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