In a sport that featured 12 lead adjustments and 13 ties, the Phoenix Mercury got here away with a 99-90 victory regardless of trailing by six factors with below 4 minutes remaining in regulation. The Mystics (9-6) have been outscored 24-9 from that time on, together with 14-5 in overtime. The Mercury’s nine-point margin at night time’s finish was the most important lead of the sport.
The Mercury seized management with a Shey Peddy three-pointer, a Skylar Diggins-Smith three-point play, one other Diggins-Smith basket and a Peddy layup to take a 95-87 lead with lower than 90 seconds left in overtime. Diggins-Smith was an issue all night time; she scored 27 factors as Phoenix shot 51.4 %.
“Yeah, we’re frustrated,” Mystics ahead Myisha Hines-Allen mentioned. “We felt like we gave them that game. [Alysha Clark] said it best: They wanted it more. But we play them Tuesday, so right from the jump, let them know it’s not going to be easy — we’re not going to give them the game.”
Hines-Allen and Ariel Atkins acquired going in the fourth quarter — the pair scored each level throughout an 11-4 run that gave Washington an 81-75 lead with 3:56 to go. Hines-Allen completed with season highs in factors (18) and rebounds (10); Atkins had 15 factors regardless of a tough taking pictures night time (3 for 16) as a result of she was in a position to get to the free throw line (8 for 9).
Clark and Shakira Austin added 12 factors apiece. Natasha Cloud had seven assists and has notched no less than 5 in 17 straight video games — a franchise document and the fifth-longest streak in WNBA historical past.
But the Mystics shot simply 40 % from the sphere, 27.6 % from behind the arc and 64.7 % from the free throw line. They additionally had 20 turnovers that led to 21 Phoenix factors.
Late in the fourth quarter, Diana Taurasi and Diggins-Smith wouldn’t let the Mercury (5-8) die. Diggins-Smith accomplished a four-point play to give Phoenix an 85-83 lead with 32.1 seconds remaining. Two Clark free throws led to overtime after every crew squandered its final possession. Taurasi fouled out early in the additional interval; she had 20 factors and 7 assists.
“I don’t think they were better than us tonight,” Atkins mentioned. “That’s not a good feeling.”
Here’s what else to know concerning the Mystics’ loss:
Mystics star Elena Delle Donne missed a second consecutive sport with an harm to her again that stored her off the ground for all however three video games in the earlier two seasons.
The Mystics have been supremely cautious with Delle Donne’s well being, and Thibault mentioned he and the medical employees made the decision for her to sit Sunday. She spent the sport on the bench in her warmup gear.
“I think that she’s improved,” Thibault mentioned. “But I think to be ready for what’s ahead and be ready for Tuesday [for another game against Phoenix], talking to our medical people, she’s got no issues with the surgery thing itself but just the muscle tightness from trying to get used to her body. There are [uncomfortable] days and just a carry-over from the other day. I talked to her today — she probably could play if it was a playoff game, but I think we are better served to not and try to be ready for Tuesday and beyond.”
Delle Donne left Wednesday’s win over Chicago in the second quarter with decrease again tightness that Thibault later described as muscle spasms. In a scheduled relaxation day, she didn’t journey for Friday’s win at Minnesota, then was listed as possible for Sunday. The plan all season has been to combine in relaxation days in an try to have her absolutely wholesome late in the season and in the playoffs.
Former Mystics standout Tina Charles returned to Entertainment and Sports Arena for the primary time since she signed with the Mercury in the offseason.
Charles led the WNBA in scoring throughout her lone yr with the Mystics in 2021 — she had signed for the 2020 season after which opted out — however the injury-laden squad didn’t compete for a title, which was why she signed. The 2012 MVP with the Connecticut Sun joined the Mercury with the identical purpose in thoughts, however once more she has had to play a a lot completely different position than deliberate.
With Brittney Griner nonetheless wrongfully detained in Russia, Charles was requested to do extra — the identical factor that occurred when she was in Washington with Delle Donne out. Charles began and posted 12 factors and eight rebounds Sunday however declined to converse with reporters earlier than or after the sport.
