NBA

San Antonio Silver Stars at Phoenix Mercury

· Women's National Basketball Association
11-20, 4-12 Away
Final
83 - 80

16-13, 9-7 Home

Brittney Griner, Mercury clinch West's final playoff spot

griner_brittney 130906 [800x450]

Candice Dupree had 18 points and eight rebounds for Phoenix (16-13), which reached the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons after missing the postseason a year ago and then selecting Griner with the first overall pick in this year's WNBA draft.

Phoenix, which improved to 6-2 under interim coach Russ Pennell, led by 18 in the second half before San Antonio got within two in the final minute. Diana Taurasi then made three of four free throws in the final 23 seconds to help secure the win.

Danielle Adams had 26 points, including nine in the final 3:34, and Jia Perkins added 14 for the Silver Stars (11-20), who have lost five of their past seven.

The Mercury lead fourth-place Seattle by 1 1/2 games and would face second-place Los Angeles in the first round.

Taurasi had 21 points and seven assists for Phoenix, which took advantage of San Antonio's poor shooting.

The Silver Stars made 37 percent from the field and were outrebounded 43-33.

Jayne Appel grabbed 17 rebounds for San Antonio before fouling out with 1:25 remaining.

The Mercury opened up an early 10-2 lead but San Antonio bounced back, sparked by Perkins' two 3-pointers to erase the lead.

But the Silver Stars shot only 35 percent from the field in the first half, and the Mercury took a 42-32 advantage at the break behind Dupree's 12 points.

The teams have split their four meetings this year.

Regular Season Series

PHX wins series 3-2

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 80 - 83
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 80 - 83
4th 6.0 Danielle Adams lost ball turnover (Krystal Thomas steals) 80 - 83
4th 10.0 Candice Dupree bad pass (Shenise Johnson steals) 80 - 83
4th 14.0 Phoenix 20 Sec. timeout 80 - 83

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/guid/c97eb968-6e82-9785-a302-0bb1a1c1d064/logos/default.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originSA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/wnba/500/phx.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originPHX
25-66 FG 29-67
38 Field Goal % 43
8-18 3PT 3-10
44 Three Point % 30
22-28 FT 22-29
79 Free Throw % 76
33 Rebounds 43
8 Offensive Rebounds 11
25 Defensive Rebounds 32
12 Assists 19
12 Steals 7
4 Blocks 5
12 Turnovers 16
0 Team Turnovers 0
12 Total Turnovers 16
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
12 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 21
9 Fast Break Points 20
24 Points in Paint 42
23 Fouls 22

Game Information

Mortgage Matchup Center

Location: Phoenix, AZ
Attendance: 9,006 · Capacity:

2025-26 Western Conference Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Minnesota - 11 W1 0.75 33
Golden State 1 12 W1 0.72727275 32
Las Vegas 2 13 W7 0.70454544 31
Dallas 6 17 W1 0.6136364 27
Portland 16 27 W1 0.38636363 17
Los Angeles 17 28 L2 0.36363637 16
Phoenix 17 28 L1 0.36363637 16
Seattle 25 36 L5 0.18181819 8
Full Standings

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