Sky, Mercury set for Finals rematch
Seven years after loss against Taurasi, Parker gets chance for payback
Diana Taurasi has the Phoenix Mercury back in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2014.
Up next is a familiar foe: Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky.
These teams met seven years ago for the championship — the last appearance for either team on the game’s biggest stage. Taurasi and the Mercury swept the three-game series. They’ll begin the best-of-five series in Phoenix on Sunday.
Taurasi scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Mercury beat secondseeded Las Vegas 87-84 on Friday night in Game 5 of their semifinal series. Chicago took out top-seeded Connecticut in the other semi in four games.
It’s the first time since the WNBA changed its playoff format in 2016 that neither of the top two teams made the Finals. Phoenix was the fifth seed, Chicago sixth.
“It’s hard,” Taurasi said. “It’s been now, what, seven, eight seasons? And when you get there, you think you’re just always going to get there. And that’s not the case. I know the magnitude of this, and these guys have been great all year. This team has just been resilient all year. We’ve had injuries, this and that, and we’ve always been able to just stay together and like each other. Which is a big deal.”
Phoenix won Game 5 without starting guard Kia Nurse, the Canadian star who tore the ACL in her right knee in the opening minute of the fourth game. The Mercury also were missing backup Sophie Cunningham with a strained calf. Coach Sandy Brondello said Cunningham might return during the Finals.
“We are facing a lot of adversity at the moment, but it shows how tough-minded this team is,” Brondello said.
Without Nurse, Shey Peddy stepped in and had a solid game, making the go-ahead free throws with 4.8 seconds left. She finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
Chicago faced adversity itself this season, overcoming a 2-7 start while Parker was recovering from an ankle injury. Parker decided to come home to Chicago after spending the first 13 years of her career in Los Angeles. Now she has the Sky three victories away from winning their first championship.
‘It’s kind of like a full-circle moment,” Parker said. “To look up in the stands and see people I started playing basketball in front of. It’s super special. This is a special group. The way you face adversity has built our character and revealed it. All of us going into playoffs believed we would be sitting here.”
Chicago beat Dallas in the opening round before knocking off Minnesota. The Sky have one of the top offences in the league led by point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who had the second-ever triple-double in playoff history in Game1of their series against Connecticut.
“Chicago is playing really good ball; they are peaking at the right time,” Brondello said. “They are playing their best ball at the right time of the season. It’s a big challenge for us. They will be more rested, but hopefully we can make this a good series and have some success and win the championship.”