Mercury's mistakes were costly in the fourth
With Caitlin Clark and the Fever coming into Phoenix, there was a lot of "drama" in the mix of this match-up. Prior to Clark being drafted to the Fever, WNBA legend Diana Taurasi made some comments that Clark's game wouldn't transfer over to the "W". A lot of fans were dismayed with the Goats' take, so they had this match-up circled
DT and the Mercury was not even in the slightest worried about the so-called head-hunting game and wanted to build momentum before the Olympic run. Phoenix has been inconsistent with winning close games, so they wanted to make sure that they finished this game. I guess DT woke up with a mission, because those "old" legs were pretty fresh in the first quarter. She was taking care of her mismatch and scored a couple easy lay-ins. At one point in the quarter, the Mercury went on a 16-4 run but the Fever got themselves back in the game.
Things got a bit testy in the second quarter. BG was tagged for a technical foul as she pushed A.B on an inbound pass. There was a second hostile act as Natasha Cloud got into it with Fever players after a timeout. Welp, it was a grind it out game for the rest of the quarter, as the Mercury went into the locker room with a double-digit lead.
For the most part, Clark was held in check and had seven parts in the first quarter. Phoenix thought they did a good job on her but wanted to make sure that they do not give any momentum to them in the second half. Phoenix went on a scoring drought and Clark and crew took advantage and went on a 15-8 sprint to take a three-point lead.
The game got tighter in the fourth, each time Phonex would score, the Fever would answer. If you wanted a nailbiter, you were watching the right game. With under .30 seconds left in regulation and up by one, Phoenix needed a defensive stop. Kelsey Mitchell was like nope and hit a potential dagger to put the Fever up one. BG and Cloud mis-communicated on a play, which cost them the game, 88-82
BG finished with 24 points and 6 rebounds
DT finished with 19 points
AB finished with 17
Clark finished with 15 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds
