The sputtering Phoenix Mercury will try to pull out of a six-game tailspin on Thursday when they host the Indiana Fever, who are wrapping up a four-game road trip.
In the two most recent outings of the road swing, Indiana (5-9) dropped back-to-back games against reigning WNBA champion and league-leading Las Vegas.
The Fever rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 78-77 lead with 2:27 to go in Monday’s matchup, but then gave up 11 consecutive points en route to an 88-80 loss.
“There’s a lot we could hang our heads about … (but) we’ve made strides individually and as a group I don’t think anyone saw coming,” Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “For us, it’s about taking it brick-by-brick, step-by-step, and keep pushing at it.”
Rookie Aliyah Boston — named as a starter in the upcoming WNBA All-Star game — recorded a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds in the loss. NaLyssa Smith, who is averaging a double-double for the season (14.7 points, 10.2 rebounds per game), finished with 13 points and 14 boards on Monday.
However, Indiana comes into Thursday’s contest having lost three of its last four games, giving up an average of 96.3 points per game in the three losses. The Fever surrendered 100 points to Atlanta on June 18, and 101 on Saturday in the first game at Las Vegas.
Phoenix (2-11), meanwhile, has dropped nine of its last 10, including the current six-game skid.
Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard was fired following Saturday’s 97-74 blowout loss to Seattle, and interim coach Nikki Blue’s debut on Tuesday ended up being another double-digit-point loss.
The Mercury gave up 14 straight points to Dallas and went almost seven minutes without scoring in the fourth quarter. What was a close contest much of the way turned into a 77-62 rout by the Wings.
Despite the late-game collapse, Mercury guard Jennie Simms told the Arizona Republic that Phoenix saw new signs of life in Tuesday’s contest.
“The energy has definitely changed,” Simms said. “I feel like we all want it at the end of the day. It was good for a couple of quarters, but Thursday is going to be better.”
–Field Level Media
