Wings 84 - 87 Mercury
Final - OT
  for this game

Shock-Mercury Preview

Aug 3, 2015 - 5:29 PM The Tulsa Shock's excitement resulting from a hot start behind star Skylar Diggins has faded into major disappointment stemming from her season-ending injury and the subsequent news that the club will relocate following the season.

The Phoenix Mercury have scored two easy victories over Tulsa during that downfall, and they'll look to deal the Shock a seventh straight defeat Tuesday night.

Tulsa won eight in a row after losing its opener, although the last victory was bittersweet after Diggins tore her ACL in the final minute against Seattle on June 28.

The Shock have lost nine of 11 since Diggins went down, and they've dropped all three since majority owner Bill Cameron on July 20 announced his plans to move the club to the Dallas-Fort Worth area after the season. The WNBA unanimously approved the move three days later.

Riquna Williams, who has started in place of Diggins, scored a season-high 35 points Saturday as Tulsa (10-10) fell 86-80 to Minnesota.

"We have a tendency to go away from our defensive scheme, our offensive scheme," said forward Plenette Pierson, who along with Odyssey Sims added 16 points. "What we really have to do is just focus on staying together and playing together and just executing."

Phoenix hasn't shown any sympathy for Tulsa's dysfunction. The Mercury (12-7) jumped ahead by 17 after one quarter and dominated throughout in an 86-55 home win July 2 before outscoring Tulsa 47-26 in the second half of Thursday's 78-66 victory.

Brittney Griner finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks in the last matchup, then swatted five shots in Sunday's 71-68 victory over Atlanta as the Mercury won their third straight.

Candice Dupree finished with 20 points against the Shock and had a season-high 27 on Sunday. Her latest effort is a testament to the Mercury's depth, as DeWanna Bonner - averaging a team-high 17.5 points - finished with a season-low four after netting 24 against the Shock.

Griner's nine points also were her fewest of the season. Monique Currie (14) and Leilani Mitchell (10) joined Dupree in double figures.

"Other people were scoring," Bonner said. "It wasn't my day. I missed a couple of easy shots. But I didn't have to (make shots). Candice scored, Monique came out and had a great game, as well as Brittney. So other people scored, and I did other things like rebound and got them the ball."

The Mercury have won nine of 11, and they'll have a great chance of improving that run if they can shut down Williams again. Williams shot 5 of 26 and scored 18 points in the first two meetings.

She's not the only one struggling, though. The Shock are shooting 33.8 percent over their last five and rank last in the league at 38.4.

Phoenix, which has won the last four meetings, leads the league with 7.0 blocks per game and ranks second in field-goal percentage defense at 39.5.






Related News