Mercury 63 - 71 Mystics
Final
  for this game

Mercury-Mystics Preview

Aug 28, 2015 - 2:55 AM With no point in dwelling on back-to-back defeats to the same Eastern Conference rival, the Washington Mystics feel confident they're capable of successfully moving forward.

They can do so Friday night by ending their recent struggles against the visiting Phoenix Mercury.

Two days after losing 87-85 at Chicago, Washington (15-11) once again fell short as Cappie Pondexter's layup with 6 seconds left gave the Sky a 66-64 victory Sunday.

"It's tough the way we lost both of those games," said guard Kara Lawson, who had 19 points and hit a tying 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining. "We were right there. We feel it could have very easily been 2-0 us."

The Mystics are 4-5 since concluding July with a season-high five-game winning streak. Though Washington is one game behind the third-place Sky in the East, it owns the conference's final playoff spot and has no intentions of feeling sorry itself.

"You rebound from it, learn from it, watch film and get ready for the next game and forget what we did last week," guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt said. "The game in front of us is always the hardest. We've just got to stay focused."

Washington, which dropped a season-high three straight in July, has lost four in a row to Phoenix (17-11), including the two 2014 meetings by a combined 27 points.

"It will be a good test for us," Mystics coach Mike Thibault said. "It's a back-to-back for them so hopefully we can push the pace and that tires them down, too."

Lawson (9.6 points per game) has averaged 16.8 points in the last four games but should be in for a stiff challenge against a Mercury squad that has clinched a playoff spot and will try for a third consecutive victory.

DeWanna Bonner recorded a game-high 26 points and Leilani Mitchell hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Phoenix an 81-80 victory at Connecticut on Thursday. Brittney Griner had 14 points with 13 rebounds and ex-Mystic Monique Currie scored 13 in the opener of a three-game trip.

Griner totaled 36 points in the two games last season against the Mystics.

Currie makes her first trip back to Washington, where she averaged 11.0 points over the previous seven-plus seasons before signing with Phoenix in February.

"Right now she's the enemy," Thibault said. "She's been a big part of the organization here, but for two hours she's the enemy and we'll treat her just like that."

These teams meet again Wednesday at Phoenix.






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