Mercury face nemesis Minnesota Lynx while trying to end 2-4 slump,
Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello didn’t recognize her team in the first half Wednesday night.
Coming off two off days that were supposed to refresh the Mercury, they instead played like they will still at the beach in Bradenton, Florida, falling behind by as many as 18 to the Los Angeles Sparks in the first half at IMG Academy.
The deficit increased to 23 early in the third quarter then, after a Diana Taurasi technical foul at 4:20 in the third, the Mercury found enough sustainable energy to put a scare into the Sparks.
Bria Hartley made the Mercury’s first 3-pointer, after eight misses, with 1:03 left in the third then she, Taurasi and Sophie Cunningham combined for four treys in the fourth, cutting the Sparks lead to 73-71 with 4:55 remaining.
Brittney Sykes and Chelsea Gray hit jumpers for the Sparks, Taurasi missed a 3-pointer at 2:29 and Brianna Turner threw away a pass allowing Los Angeles to clinch an 83-74 win.
“We can’t play 20 minutes of basketball against one of the best teams in the league,” Brondello said. “The first 20 minutes, I don’t even know what team that was.”
The game, starting the second half for the Mercury, was the reverse of the season opener when the Sparks led by four at halftime then dropped a 30-8 bomb in the third quarter of a 99-76 win.
By sweeping the season series, Los Angeles won their fifth straight and improved to 8-3. The Mercury dropped to 6-6 and have lost four of their last six games.
“We should be better than a .500 team,” Brondello said. “We dug that hole. That’s our fault. We’ll just keep demanding and hopefully getting the right combinations out there that enable us to stay in the game. Sometimes we just don’t have enough energy. That second 20 (minutes) was fun to coach because they were competing. It wasn’t always perfect, but there was a competitive fire about them.”