The Phoenix Mercury secured the No. 7 seed on Tuesday and their ticket into the 2024 WNBA playoffs with some major outside help. Following the Las Vegas Aces' 90-71 win over the Chicago Sky and the Mercury's 74-66 win over the Atlanta Dream, Kahleah Copper found her scoring touch once again. The former Rutgers standout scored a team-high 28 points on 50% shooting from the field, three three-pointers, and making nine of her 12 free throws.
However, Atlanta wasn't going down without a fight. Superstar guard Rhyne Howard made Tuesday's contest worth watching. Howard had 31 points and made six of her 15 three-point attempts. The constant use of her footwork, while taking advantage of the smaller Phoenix defenders kept Atlanta in the game until the final buzzer. Still, it was not enough and they will compete with the Sky for the No. 8 seed.
Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts mentioned after the game that he loved seeing Copper and Howard exchange points in the fourth quarter.
“It was almost like two games,” Tibbetts said. “It was fun to watch. The game is so easy for her (Howard), right? She got up 15 threes tonight and we were trying to take away threes and that's how talented she is and cause like a force of nature. When she (Copper) just gets going downhill, and she had that pop tonight, she made a couple of threes. You could see that confidence. So that was a fun battle to watch for sure.”
The mix of Copper's three-point makes, along with the crafty finishing ability does wonders for a Phoenix squad with some key starters out of the game.
“We need that from Kah (Kahleah) and she needed it tonight,” Tibbetts said. “I need to do a better job of continuing to put her in positions to be successful, but she's our leading scorer for a reason. When she's playing at that level, our ceiling is raised.”
Copper is the league's third-leading scorer, averaging 22.2 points. She only trails Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale and Aces MVP front-runner A'ja Wilson. Phoenix was without point guard Natasha Cloud, who was suspended after receiving her seventh technical foul against Las Vegas on Sunday. Due to WNBA rules, Cloud couldn't attend Tuesday's contest but was live tweeting from her home. When the game ended and Phoenix secured the playoff spot, Copper told reporters the text she received from Cloud.
“The message just said, ‘dawg', so I already know what that means,” Copper said, chuckling.
How did the Mercury, Kahleah Copper get back on the right track?
Despite the help from Copper and other teams, Tibbetts addressed a team meeting on Monday. After an embarrassing loss to the Aces on Sunday, the team took action. Before Tuesday's contest, the first-year head coach was appreciative of his team's honesty.
“I think it was a good time for us to get together and just talk about what we want to get done,” Tibbetts said. “Those are good opportunities for people to let their feelings be known and respect everybody's opinion. It happens in professional sports where you're kind of going down the wrong road or not playing as well as you want to.
“I thought it was a productive day, just a good day to kind of re-evaluate ourselves and how we can get better because we have a chance to put a playoff spot tonight.”
Luckily for the Mercury, they secured that playoff spot and played some well-organized basketball. Although rookie Celeste Taylor started at point guard, the team had a plethora of ball-handlers. Guards Diana Taurasi and Copper brought the ball up, in addition to forward Sophie Cunningham. The revolving door helped keep Atlanta guessing for defensive coverages and matchups.
Much of Phoenix's identity for not only Copper, but her teammates is to turn defense into offense. She matched up with Howard for multiple possessions during the first half. As a result, Copper was aggressive, once she found her scoring rhythm.
“I'm just trying to find that balance, of being aggressive and letting it come to me,” Copper said. “It was important for me to be aggressive from the jump. Then just continue to lock up defensively and let that fuel my offense.”
The Mercury are not taking their foot off the gas after securing the No. 7 seed. They'll have to face either the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx as their first-round matchup. Phoenix hopes to keep fixing potential mistakes before the start of the 2024 WNBA playoffs.
Follow Us
Subscribe
