The Phoenix Mercury lost their fourth straight game to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday, and for a veteran group looking to instill a winning culture, the standard has yet to be reached in The Valley.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Phoenix has lost its last four games by a point differential of 16.25 and two games by 23-plus points. The Mercury have had their stretches of good basketball amidst the struggles, and have shown resilience with their backs against the wall.
However, Phoenix has struggled with executing right out of the gate. First-half issues have been prevalent throughout this stretch, and have played a part halting the Mercury’s hot start.
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— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) June 1, 2024
“I thought the second half we responded and came out and played the way we all expected to start the game,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “For whatever reason, we were not ready in the first half. I’ve got to do a better job of getting us ready to play. We responded but unfortunately, it is a tough road ahead when you’re not ready. I like what I saw in the second half, there was more of the Mercury style of basketball that we want to play.”
On Saturday in Minnesota, the Lynx outscored Phoenix 55-31 in the first half. The Mercury went on to tie with the Lynx in the second half at 40-apiece, but the first half deficit was insurmountable.
Phoenix didn’t struggle as much in the first half as an entirety against New York on Wednesday, but was outscored 33-20 in the first quarter. In a game that was largely close throughout with Phoenix coming back, being on the wrong side of a first-quarter run was the driving factor in Phoenix’s loss. The Mercury then went on to get outscored 38-25 in the first half at Connecticut and 52-35 at home against Dallas.
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“Yeah, we’ve got to start off stronger,” Sophie Cunningham said about slow starts to games. “We got to weather the storms inside the game. I know we don’t have BG [Brittney Griner], we don’t have Bec [Rebecca Allen] but we do have all we need, just have to start off stronger. Got to take care of the ball, we’ve got to move on offense. Defensively we got to bring that energy, we’ve got to talk.”
“Just playing with more energy,” said Tibbetts. “I think at halftime, we had zero second chance points, zero fast break points. We weren’t ready to go, that’s on me.”
These early game struggles can be blamed on timely turnovers and defensive tenacity. Phoenix has also been outmatched without the services of Brittney Griner. Although the small-ball lineup led the Mercury to a 3-1 start, it’s something that’s largely effective in spurts. The lack of a true rim-protector and inside presence is crucial, especially when starting out games.
It could even be amounted to Phoenix’s rough schedule. The Mercury just wrapped up a three-game road trip in four days, visiting Connecticut, New York and Minnesota. The injury bug has hit, and there’s a sickness going around the team as well. But these are all little things that get into the heads of the players, causing frustration and loss of control early.
“We were more inside of our heads than anything,” said center Natasha Mack. “We can give all these excuses, sickness running through, everyone’s tired on the road. But we really brought it upon ourselves.”
Not to mention, this is still a brand new core. With four returning players, Phoenix is still looking to build cohesion and find its identity — something that is extra hard given Phoenix’s current situation.
“Really none of us have played together, so there has to be a little bit of a grace period,” said Cunningham. “But at the end of the day, we’re all competitive. We all want to win. I think that’s the difference.”
The Mercury will look to get back on track Sunday afternoon as they get set to host the Los Angeles Sparks at 3 p.m. Pacific Time.
Lynx’s bench combined for 50 points in 95-71 win, hand Mercury fourth straight loss
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Justin LaCertosa covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @LaCertosaSports
