Nine games left to stay in the hunt
Phoenix host Portland on Sunday, and both sides are out of excuses.
The Mercury sit at 13-22, seven games behind Dallas (20-15) and Washington (19-14), who hold the final two playoff spots. There are nine games left on the schedule. The maths is brutal.
The Fire are faring a little better. They are ninth at 14-20, five and a half games off the top eight. Portland have won three of their last four.
“We didn’t expect to be in this position, but we’re going to keep fighting,” said Alyssa Thomas. The forward pointed to an awkward truth. Phoenix reached the WNBA Finals last season. Since opening this year with a win over Las Vegas, they have not once moved back above .500.
Try it for $0.99.
Winterburn takes a leap
Portland are bringing some bite. On Friday, the Fire held firm in Seattle, winning 84-82, and completed a 4-0 sweep of the Storm this season. Holly Winterburn delivered a career-high 20 points in the rookie’s breakout night. She also added seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.
“I think it’s the sort of performance that moves her into a different category,” said coach Alex Sarama. Winterburn’s previous best was six points.
The young guard comes off the bench behind Carla Leite (15.5 points, 6.2 assists), Bridget Carleton (14.6) and Megan DiLeo (12.9). Leite and Thomas (14.8 points, 8.2 assists) are among seven players in the league averaging at least 14 points and five assists a game.
Kelsey Plum remains the big question
Kelsey Plum’s status is still unclear. The guard missed Tuesday’s 94-87 win over the Sparks, her former team, because of a left leg issue. Her arrival has not yet turned things around, with Phoenix having lost three of their last four.
Nate Tibbetts has come up with a defensive fix. After spending much of the season in man-to-man, the Mercury have switched to zone.
“It’s a way to save the legs,” Thomas explained. “When we were able to get stops, we could run in transition and get into whatever we wanted on offense. It really changed the pace of the game.”
In the first meeting on June 5, Phoenix won 78-72 behind DeWanna Bonner’s 19 points. Kahleah Copper, the team’s leading scorer at 20.6 points per game, and Thomas were both injured at the time.
Discover the rest of the WNBA news on our mathodds website and app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply