WNBA Playoffs: Phoenix Looks To Take Flight While Minnesota and L.A. Hook Up In the Other Opener

By ROB KNOX (@knoxrob1)

 

The Phoenix Mercury are hotter than desert temperatures.

 

The fifth-seeded Mercury roll into the 2018 WNBA Playoffs with a four-game winning streak. Phoenix (20-14 overall) hosts eighth-seeded Dallas (15-19) in an elimination game at Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

 

The nightcap is only a rematch of the last two WNBA Finals between seventh-seeded Minnesota (18-16) and sixth-seeded Los Angeles (19-15) at the Staples Center at 10:30 p.m. While in many circles the Lynx-Sparks game may be viewed as the heavyweight bout of the two playoff games, the “undercard” between Dallas and Phoenix is pretty good.

 

Featuring four of the top 10 scorers in the WNBA this season, this game promises to be entertaining. Both teams also can light scoreboard up like a pinball machine. 

 

Liz Cambage against Brittney Griner, a pair of dominant forces. It doesn’t get any better than that in the paint. 

 

Diana Tuarasi (20.7 ppg, third in WNBA) and Griner (20.5, fifth) finished as the highest scoring duo in the WNBA this season with a combined 41.2 points per game between them. 

 

Taurasi was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for the fourth time in her decorated career after averaging 22.0 points and 7.4 assists during the month of August. She scored 20 or more points in four of the seven games in August, including a season-high 37-point outing on August 1 at Las Vegas. 

 

With averages of 20.7 points and 5.3 assists per game, Taurasi’s the only player in the WNBA ranked in the top five in scoring (third) and assists (fourth).  

She led the league in free throw shooting this season with a career-best mark of 95.5 percent (172-of-186), ended up with 106 makes from behind the arc, which is 28 more makes from beyond the arc than second place. 

 

“I mean, you obviously want to finish as high up as you can,” Taurasi said following the Mercury’s win over the New York Liberty Sunday afternoon. “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.”

 

Throw in Dewanna Bonner, who has scored 20-plus points in eight of the last 10 games, then the Mercury are more than capable of a lengthy playoff run.

Bonner also has scored 30 or more points twice in the Mercury’s last 10 games and is averaging 21.3 points 10.2 rebounds since her move to power forward July 25th.

 

Cambage, who finished as the WNBA’s leading scorer at 23.0 points per game, dropped 43 points against Las Vegas last Friday in a performance that helped the Wings clinch a playoff spot. 

Of course, Cambage also scored a WNBA-record 53 points in a game against the New York Liberty this season. Skylar Diggins-Smith averaged 17.9 points per game, which was 10^th in the league.

 

The Mercury are used to these elimination games. 

They are a perfect 4-0 in single-elimination playoff games under the current playoff format, which went into effect in 2016.

 Last year, the Mercury beat the Seattle Storm at home and the Connecticut Sun on the road before being swept in the semifinals by the Sparks. The Wings lost at Washington last season in their playoff opener. 

 

Phoenix won two of the three meetings against Dallas this season. However, the Wings captured the last game between the two squads, 101-72, on July 10 in Dallas.

 

The Mercury set franchise records this season with 288 and highest assist average (20.6) in team history.

 

“I said it was all about getting that momentum at the right time,” Phoenix head coach Sandy Brondello said. “But we know in this league, particularly this year, anyone can beat anyone, it’s a knockout game. 

“We just have to make sure we come out with good poise and execution at both ends of the floor. We are at home and that’s an advantage to us, so we have to take advantage of that,” she added.

“Our only focus is on Dallas. That’s a tough team and a team we’ve lost to, but we’re playing well so we have to go in with that confidence as a team.”

 

A Dallas victory sends it to Washington for a 6:30 p.m. showdown against the Mystics. That game will be played at George Washington University’s Smith Center. A Phoenix win and it will have a second round playoff rematch at Connecticut Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

 

By the time Minnesota and Los Angeles tip-off, the winner will know where it’s headed for its next game. Meanwhile, Seattle (No. 1 seed) and Atlanta (No. 2) will begin play at home in the semifinals on Sunday. The Dream play at 3 p.m. and the Storm will begin at 5 p.m.

 

Fearless predictions: Let’s go with Phoenix and Minnesota.