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Lynx-Mercury Preview

Jul 28, 2010 - 5:15 PM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Minnesota (7-15) at Phoenix (10-13), 10:00 p.m. EDT

The Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx may have been battling fatigue in their most recent games after a matchup over the weekend resulted in the highest scoring game in WNBA history.

Both teams will try to bounce back from tough losses when they meet Thursday night at US Airways Center.

Phoenix defeated Minnesota 127-124 in double-overtime Saturday to set a new scoring mark. The Mercury had previously owned the record after a 123-91 win at Tulsa last Thursday.

They were unable to sustain the momentum, losing 91-85 at league-best Seattle on Tuesday to snap a three-game winning streak and fall for only the second time in seven games. Phoenix, which led by 18 at halftime, was outscored 24-8 in the third quarter.

"You have to play 40 minutes to beat any team in this lead," said Diana Taurasi, who scored 27 points. "You put in a good first half and in the second half we didn't get some things we wanted to."

Phoenix (10-13) is the league's top-scoring team at 96.1 points per game, but was held to its fewest points since a 95-85 loss at Washington on June 27. The Mercury averaged 105.1 points over their next eight contests.

Despite the defeat, Phoenix has a two-game lead over third-place San Antonio in the Western Conference. The Storm clinched the conference's top seed Tuesday.

"We'll be all right," coach Corey Gaines said. "I'm not disappointed at all. We lost to a good team, the best team in the league. We played them tough."

The Lynx suffered an even bigger letdown after their tough loss to the Mercury. Minnesota shot 26 percent from the field Tuesday en route to its fourth straight defeat, 71-58 to Los Angeles.

Seimone Augustus was held to a season-low six points. She missed her first seven field goal attempts and was held without a basket before making a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.

"I don't know where I can even start with any one thing," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "Probably the most frustrating thing is our inability to get the ball in the hole. In a game with this magnitude, you know (against) a team that is fighting for a playoff spot, we just haven't quite grasped how to win those kind of games."

Minnesota (7-15) is percentage points behind Los Angeles for fourth place and the final playoff spot in the West.

The Lynx are 6-15 on the road against the Mercury, losing 99-88 on June 10.

"When we go to Phoenix we will try to regroup that's all we can do," Lindsay Whalen told the Lynx's official website. "This is our stretch-run. We have 12 games left. So you know we will just have to win some games and stick together and keep playing hard, keep being aggressive and that's all you can do."