The Phoenix Mercury are hot and the Dallas Wings are playing on a wing and a
prayer entering Tuesday’s first-round game of the WNBA playoffs at Arizona
State’s Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.
“I said it was all about getting that momentum at the right time,” Phoenix coach
Sandra Brondello said after the Mercury closed out the regular season winning
four straight games, capped by Sunday’s 96-85 win over the visiting New York
Liberty.
Dallas forward Glory Johnson, after her team fell 84-68 on Sunday in Seattle,
the team’s 10th loss in its last 11 games, said, “We have to focus and not worry
about anything and just play.”
The single-elimination game pitting the fifth-seeded Mercury (20-14) and the
eighth-seeded Wings (15-19) was moved from the Talking Resort Arena to ASU
because of a concert scheduling conflict.
The teams opened the WNBA season on May 18 against each other at the Talking
Resort Arena in Phoenix, with the Mercury winning 86-78. Dallas, which went 1-2
against the Mercury this season, looks like it could potentially start and end
its season in the Phoenix area based on its current state.
Fred Williams was fired as head coach with four games remaining and the Wings
lost all those games, three on the road, under interim coach Taj
McWilliams-Franklin.
After starting the season 14-9, Dallas went 1-10 down the stretch. During that
difficult time, star players Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith each missed
games with injuries. With both playing now, the Wings will have to use all of
their resources to regain the winning touch they had up to mid-July.
“We’re going to rest tonight, practice (Monday) and we’ll get ready to play,”
McWilliams-Franklin said after Sunday’s loss at Seattle. “When you throw up the
ball with a one-game series, it’s anybody’s game. (Phoenix) played today and we
played today so we both have the same amount of rest. Whether we fly or not
doesn’t matter because we’ve been doing it forever.”
Phoenix enters Tuesday’s game clicking on offense.
The Mercury had 24 assists in the win over the Liberty on Sunday, giving them a
franchise-record 20.6 assists per game average this season (699 total). The
Mercury surpassed the previous franchise record of 20.2 assists per game set in
the 2010 season (686 total).
Phoenix also finished the season with 288 made 3-pointers, setting a franchise
record for most 3-pointers made in a season. The previous mark was 283 in 2007.
“You obviously want to finish as high up as you can,” said veteran guard Diana
Taurasi, who had five assists against the Liberty and made four 3-pointers,
giving her 106 this season, second most in WNBA history behind her 121 in 2006.
“There was a point there when we thought we were going to be in that top two,
top four, but you have to win regardless. I think we’re playing well.
“I think we found our groove a little bit on the things that we want to do.
Getting a home game, but we still have to go out there and play hard and play
really well to win.”
