Mercury clip Wings in opener
Now there is definite proof that it’s better to not play basketball with a wedding hangover.
The Phoenix Mercury tried that, not by choice, last season and managed all of 58 points in a 10-point loss to the Dallas Wings on the day after celebrating Diana Taurasi’s marriage to Penny Taylor.
Friday night, again against the Wings, the Mercury broke away in the third and fourth quarters for an 86-78 victory to kick off the WNBA's 22nd season.
Taurasi, who became the WNBA career scoring and 3-point leader last year, hit her 1,000th 3-pointer in her 399th career game. She finished with a game-high 26 points, 20 in the first half.
The Mercury used an 11-point run – the last five of the third quarter and first six of the fourth – to lead 67-53 with 8:47 remaining. Dallas answered with three straight baskets before a short hook shot by center Brittney Griner, starting Phoenix on a 7-3 run to lead 74-62.
Dallas kept coming, scoring eight straight points to trail 74-70 with 3:32 left.
DeWanna Bonner hit a baseline 16footer to stop that run, then pulled a defensive rebound. Griner made two free throws at 2:42 and Taurasi canned her fifth 3-pointer for a 81-72 lead, enough breathing room to close out the Wings.
Bonner scored 17 points in her first WNBA game back from maternity leave last season. The Mercury had five double-figure scorers.
Griner picked up her fourth foul with 3:31 left and sat the remainder of the period.
Camille Little hit a corner 3-pointer off a cross-court pass from Briann January in the closing seconds of the first half, giving the Mercury a 44-42 lead.
Taurasi, at age 35, made her first-half scoring barrage look easy, going 5-of-11 from the field with three 3-pointers and hitting all seven of her free throws.
Dallas center Liz Cambage had 14 first-half points, 10 more than the Mercury’s Griner. Griner had two early fouls and played just 4:33 in the first quarter.
The Wings had a 22-12 rebounding edge in the first half when neither team led by more than four points.