By now, Phoenix and Seattle should know each other well.
The Mercury and Storm will meet for the third time this season when they play in Phoenix on Saturday. They split the first two games.
The rivalry runs deep. The teams have met six times in the playoffs, and Phoenix (6-3) is off to its best start since 2018, when it lost to the eventual league champion Storm in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Mercury enters after an 86-77 home victory over Golden State on Thursday. They trailed by eight points with four minutes remaining but closed on an 18-1 run behind rookie Lexi Held and Satou Sabally.
Held had 24 points and helped carry the playmaking load of Alyssa Thomas, who has missed the last four games with a left calf injury.
“I’ve been pretty pleased with her playing the point here the last couple of games,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “I think she’s probably been more of a combo (guard), but she handled it a ton tonight, which was great with some of the injuries that we’ve had.
“If she can do that when some of our others come back. Just having that shot-creation confidence. You know, she’s little, but she’s fierce.”
The Mercury blew out the Storm 81-59 in the season opener for both in Phoenix on May 17, when they shot a season-high 51.7 percent. The Storm won the rematch 77-70 when Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins had 24 points apiece on May 23.
Seattle (4-4) broke a three-game losing streak with an 83-77 home victory over Dallas on Tuesday. The Storm used an 18-4 run fueled by a six-point possession with less than four minutes remaining to take control.
Diggins had a four-point play — a layup and two free throws after DiJonai Carrington was called for a flagrant 1 foul. The Storm retained possession because of the foul and got a layup from Ezi Magbegor.
“That was huge,” Ogwumike said. “It’s always about winning the game within the game. We can learn a lot from ourselves by taking those moments seriously. We suffer a lot from paralysis by analysis, and we just need to play basketball.”
Sabally leads the Mercury with 20.3 points per game. Diggins (16.8), Ogwumike (16.5) and Gabby Williams (14.5) lead the Storm.
–Field Level Media
