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Silver Stars-Mercury Preview

Aug 5, 2010 - 7:55 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

San Antonio (10-16) at Phoenix (13-13), 10:00 p.m. EDT

Sweeping a home-and-home set from the San Antonio Silver Stars could go a long way in helping the surging Phoenix Mercury secure second place in the Western Conference.

They'll try to complete the sweep and get their first four-game winning streak in over a year when they host the Silver Stars on Friday night.

Phoenix (13-13), the reigning WNBA champion, is trying to move closer to solidifying the second seed in the West with Seattle having clinched first.

With eight regular-season games remaining, the Mercury will need to fend off San Antonio (10-16), which is three games back.

Another win would give Phoenix the inside track to home-court advantage in at least the opening round of the playoffs. It would also be the club's ninth victory in 11 games, and fourth in a row for the first time since a six-game run from July 1-18, 2009.

Phoenix got 24 points and 12 rebounds from forward Candice Dupree to beat the Silver Stars 103-92 on Tuesday in San Antonio. The Mercury's up-tempo scheme forced 16 turnovers that led to 31 points.

"The key stat really was the turnovers," Silver Stars coach Sandy Brondello said. "You just can't allow that, especially with a team like Phoenix that obviously wants to play that fast pace. They have so many options. If we break down, they hurt us."

The Mercury are the league's highest scoring team at 97.0 points per game, but also give up the most at 94.0.

That was evident in Phoenix losing the last home meeting with San Antonio, 108-105 on June 18. The result also ended the Mercury's four-game winning streak as host in the series including two in last year's conference semifinals.

Diana Taurasi has totaled 60 points, 17 assists and six steals in two meetings with the Silver Stars this season. The All-Star guard-forward leads the WNBA with an average of 23.9 points and ranks in the top 10 with 4.7 assists per game.

The Silver Stars could use a better performance from Becky Hammon, who turned the ball over eight times while scoring 13 points with a season-high 11 assists Tuesday. The All-Star guard is averaging 14.0 points and is fourth in the league with 5.4 assists.

She scored 18.0 points per game in her last five visits to Phoenix.

The teams face each other in the regular-season finale in San Antonio on Aug. 22.