The Phoenix Mercury beat the Minnesota Lynx in absolutely exciting fashion Friday as it came down to star Kahleah Copper who got her named called to hit the winning three-point shot. However, Copper revealed after the game that the original plan coming out of the timeout looked different than what resulted on the court.
Right after the game when speaking to a sideline reporter, the Mercury star in Copper would reveal that fellow teammate Diana Taurasi was supposed to take the shot, but she opted for the 29-year old to do it instead. It would lead to Copper getting the pass towards the right corner and hit a three-point shot to put Phoenix up one point with 0.7 seconds left on the clock.
“Shoutout to Diana Taurasi, because we went to that timeout and coach drew the play up for D [Taurasi], and D said ‘No, give the ball to [Copper],'” Copper said. “Like, I have so much respect for her for that and I just went out there and made a play.”
Copper speaks to Taurasi's unselfish nature on the Mercury
On top of the winning shot, Copper had a fantastic game as she scored 34 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals. As for Taurasi, she had 12 points to pair with six rebounds as she made four of her 19 shots from the field where she thought since Copper had the hot hand, the last shot should go to her.
“It means a lot,” Copper said of Taurasi's leadership after the game to the media according to Sports Illustrated. “What she is for this for this franchise, what she is for women's basketball, what she's done in her career. Clearly, she's a winner. She could have easily been like, ‘O.K., cool, let's run it for me.' But it speaks to her character being unselfish and, like I said, being a winner.”
On the season, Copper is averaging 23.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. While for Taurasi at 41-years old, she is the second leading scorer with 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.
The win for Phoenix also marked Brittney Griner's return
Besides the phenomenal game from Copper and the leadership from Taurasi, another crucial storyline for the Mercury in the win over the Lynx was that it was the regular season debut of star Brittney Griner. She had played one game in the preseason, but missed every one after due to a toe injury but she came back and scored 11 points with four rebounds and facilitated the pass to Copper that set up the game-winning shot from beyond the arch.
“It feels great, just sitting back and watching my team play and holding it down and competing, I was just chomping at the bit to get out there,” Griner said. “It just feels good to be back with my team and being able to contribute and be part of it.”
Leading up to the game, Thursday was an important step for Griner in her return from injury as she went through “full contact in practice, including a scrimmage, for the first time since she was sidelined” according to AZCentral.com. Copper herself would tout how important Griner is to the team, especially when bringing size and a defensive presence.
“It's huge, literally,” Copper said. “Let's just start with defensively. Nobody is going down there in the paint. It's just not happening. Offensively, it opens up things for us. Nobody can guard her one-on-one. You send another one and now we got shooter space around her. It does a lot for us.”
While Griner's return adds needed size, she still needs to work on timing
Her size impacted Minnesota, especially in how they played in the paint as in their first matchup with one another, the Lynx had 32 points in the restricted area, but only 18 Friday with Griner in the game. The size difference for the Mercury was touted by head coach Nate Tibbets and said “we're big again.”
“Even on the jump ball, when she walked out there, I was like, man, we’re big again,” Tibbetts said. “I haven’t seen her out there a lot and this is new to me, but I leaned to (associate head coach Kristi Toliver) and said, alright, we got our size back, which is awesome.”
Just like with any return from a significant absence, there is going to be mistakes made as Griner had three turnovers and made some lapses on both sides of the floor. The 33-year old and former first overall pick from 2013 admits that after the game that she needs “to get my timing down,” especially on passes.
“I need to catch those passes, that's on me. I need to get my timing down and get my butterfinger hands ready,” Griner said. “It just feels good and we put in a lot of hard work in training camp, in the offseason, and in everything. Seasons just go how they want to go sometimes and sometimes you're a little delayed.”
In any sense, the Mercury are now 5-6 on the season which puts them fourth in the Western Conference behind the Las Vegas Aces. They will look to extend their win streak to two contests as their next game is against the Dallas Wings on Sunday evening.
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