Mercury looking to tie things Hamlin has had the touch at Darlington
Phoenix will look to replicate Game 3 intensity vs. Seattle Will start today’s Southern 500 on the pole
Pnoenix — Intensity is a main reason Phoenix is still alive in its WNBA semifinal series against Seattle. The Mercury had it in abundance in Game 3 on Friday night. The Storm, not so much.
That was the assessment of the Storm, anyway, in the wake of an 86-66 loss to Phoenix that cut Seattle's lead in the best-of-five series to 2-1.
"They clearly came out as a team whose back was against the wall and just had a very determined mindset," the Storm's Sue Bird said, "much more intensity than we came out with. And with that, loose balls go your way. You've got aggressive people making shots. For us, we just never really amped it up."
Another Mercury win today and the series would face a winner-take-all Game 5 Tuesday night in Seattle.
"Being down 0-2 to the best team in the league — not easy," Phoenix's Diana Taurasi said after the team went through a light workout on Saturday. "But we took on the challenge and tomorrow's going to be just as difficult. Hopefully we bring that same effort."
Yvonne Turner will be in the Mercury starting lineup for the second game in a row as Stephanie Talbot goes through the concussion protocol. Coach Sandy Brondello said she was hopeful Talbot would be back if there's a Game 5.
With Taurasi having a rare off night offensively, Turner emerged as a surprise star with 19 points. DeWanna Bonner had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Brittney Griner had 21 points and 11 boards for the Mercury.
Seattle got 19 points from Natasha Howard and 15 points and 11 rebounds from league MVP Breanna Stewart but lost its eighth consecutive playoff road game dating to 2011.
"I thought their energy was immediate and consistent," Storm coach Dan Hughes said. "And I think it's about learning. Our team has all year I think learn things. You can talk about the environment and what the sense of urgency that Phoenix was going to have. But now we saw it. And so we have to be a team that learns something from that.”
Darlington, S.C. — About the only time Denny Hamlin's had difficulty at Darlington Raceway came when he was trying to impress the brass at Joe Gibbs Racing.
He and Tony Stewart tested at the track about 15 years ago and Hamlin remembers tagging the infamous and troublesome wall some 19 or 20 times, "where we didn't have any sheet metal on the side and had worn completely through," he said.
"Since that point, it just kind of clicked."
Hamlin, now a mainstay at JGR, needs his Darlington touch to click once more at the Southern 500 tonight. Hamlin has not won on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since taking the checkered flag here a year ago. He's on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs — he needs eight points out of the weekend to clinch a spot with only one regular-season race remaining after this — but sorely wants to enter running at peak performance.
He's off to a good start on the weekend by winning the pole Saturday for the Southern 500. Kyle Larson will start next to Hamlin, with last year's series champion Martin Truex Jr. in third.
Hamlin has won twice here on the Cup side and five times in Xfinity. More amazingly, he's never missed a lap at Darlington as Cup driver.
"That's called a jinx, thank you," Hamlin answered when told of his success here.
Hamlin could use a bit of a jinx put on the trio of NASCAR champions dominating victory lane. Kevin Harvick, the 2014 champion, leads the way with seven wins, while 2015 champion Kyle Busch has six. Defending series winner Martin Truex Jr. has won four times this season, meaning the three have combined to take 70 percent of the races.
Busch said his mission and mindset is clear: finish the regular season as the top playoff seed.
"We want to continue our dominant stretch, continuing to win races, top fives and add to those bonus points," he said. "You want to win the regular season."
Some drivers, like Hamlin, simply want to make the playoffs. Hamlin appears likely to clinch his spot this week, while Aric Almirola and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson are also close to making the 16-team postseason.
The matter will be settled for sure next week when the 26th and final regular-season race takes place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Hamlin said he's not racing for points, just wins.
"Running better is very, very important to us at this point. So we're doing everything we can.”