Griner scores 31, hits late free throws
On Friday, Brittney Griner’s last-minute turnaround shot bouncing off the rim was the difference in a tough, 80-76 loss to the New York Liberty. Sunday against the Atlanta Dream, when Griner got that same shot with three seconds left and the score tied, she ended up drawing the game-deciding penalty.
Talking Stick Resort Arena was so tensely quiet as Griner sized up her shot from the free-throw line that the swish of ball brushing net when she made it could almost be heard.
It was that point, Griner’s 30th on the afternoon, that would stand as the game-winner as the Phoenix Mercury edged the Atlanta Dream, 65-63. Griner made the second free throw to finish with 31 points.
The Mercury’s “Big Two,” Griner and DeWanna Bonner, led the home team on
an 8-0 run to open the game. Leilani Mitchell may be the shortest player on the court at 5 feet, 5 inches, but her aggressive rebound control was part of the reason that the Mercury were able to hold the visitors scoreless for the opening five minutes.
“If I can get in there and help, especially get all the loose ones,” Mitchell said. “You know I can’t get any of the high ones, but the ones that bounce around, I try to get those ones.”
The Mercury exited the first quarter with a 16-13 lead, in large part due to the Dream’s issues with rebounds (they pulled down nine to the Mercury’s 16) and at the line (1 of 6 free-throw attempts).
Although both teams struggled to make shots, Atlanta’s ball control improved in the second quarter. They went from shooting 25% to almost 33%, and eventually tied the game with a minute left in the half. Griner barely prevented the Dream from claiming their first lead of the game, scoring twice in the last sixty seconds to send the Mercury into the second half with a four-point advantage, 29-25.
“We can’t both shoot the ball as bad as we did,” head coach Sandy Brondello said after the game. “... We didn’t take the opportunity we had to extend the lead, because there was no pace to it. We were kind of stagnant in our offense.”
Atlanta’s Brittney Sykes must love playing in Phoenix. She’s a career 12 points-per-game player, but in her past three games in Phoenix, she’s averaged 20. Her career-high of 33 points came here in 2017. It felt fitting, then, that it was her 3-pointer that gave the Dream their first lead of the game, 42-41, halfway through the third.
Sykes’ 22 points in the third quarter, added to a flurry of Mercury penalties, made for a deadly combination. Despite the crowd’s vocal objections, the team accrued seven personal fouls in the third; the Dream took advantage, making 8 of 11 free-throw attempts. The Mercury ended the third quarter down 4847.
Phoenix recovered with two Mitchell 3-pointers and a scoring tear from Griner. Lockdown defense from Briann January on Sykes helped the Mercury climb back out to a 10-point advantage with minutes left in the game.
Still, the Dream managed to tie the score at 63 with 13 seconds remaining. That was when Griner, in her usual position at the post, drew the last-minute foul and sunk the game-winning free throws.
It was the second 30-point game in a row for Griner and the 11th of her career. She also reached 600 career blocks, becoming the third player in league history to do so. When that statistic was brought up in the locker room, Griner gave a victorious fist pump.
“Anyone that knows me knows that blocked shots are my favorite thing in basketball, so climbing up that list right now is pretty big for me,” Griner said. “I’m going after Margo (Dydek), but that’s gonna take me a little bit.”
Bonner put up a double-double with 14 rebounds and 11 points; Mitchell scored 13. Still, Griner putting up almost half of the team’s points raises the worry that the Mercury are leaning too heavily on her for scoring.
“It’s a big concern,” Brondello said. “... I can’t even take BG out because I don’t know else is going to score for me at the time.”
Griner isn’t daunted by the prospect of carrying the Mercury for now, at least until the return of Diana Taurasi. Although Brondello “(doesn’t) expect” Taurasi to play, she could possibly make her season debut on the team’s upcoming road trip.
“If I gotta play 40, I gotta play 40,” Griner said. “... After last year, playing big minutes and just kind of running out of gas at the end, I think this year I’m doing a little bit better on preparing for it.”