The Phoenix Mercury will look to get their first win of the season over the Connecticut Sun who won both matchups so far, but Phoenix has five players on the injury report who may all be out.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Brittney Griner (Right Hip), Natasha Cloud (Left Knee) and Diana Taurasi (Left Lower Leg) are all listed as questionable for Sunday morning’s game while Charisma Osborne (Left Lower Leg) and Sug Sutton (Right Hamstring) have been ruled out.
After missing the first 10 games of the season with a toe fracture to her left foot, Griner may be out once again. As she was going for the ball in the early stages of the Mercury’s last game vs. the Indiana Fever, she collided with Fever guard Lexie Hull and was in major pain as a result. The 6-foot-9 center limped slowly to the bench before being ruled out for the rest of the game. She has played 13 games and averaged 18.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists before this latest incident.
Just as Phoenix and Indiana were about to warm up, the news broke that Cloud was unable to play due to a left knee injury. Going in as one of the few players on the Mercury to not have missed a game this year, Cloud ended up watching from the sidelines. Out for her first game of the season on Friday, she is now questionable. The Mercury’s star point guard is posting 12.5 points, 7.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game in 22 games.
While she has been out for the last four games with a lingering lower left leg injury, Taurasi has been upgraded to questionable. The 11-time WNBA All-Star is averaging 16.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season. She suffered a lower back injury which forced her to miss the last matchup against the Sun on July 1.
Sutton has suffered multiple injuries this season and remains inactive. She sat out for Phoenix’s first game vs. the Sun with a right ankle injury on May 29 and the clash against the Minnesota Lynx on June 22 with a hamstring injury. She also sustained a left elbow injury and was questionable vs. the Dallas Wings on May 25, but ended up being available.
As for Osborne, she has played just two games in her rookie year. She was averaging 1.0 points, 0.5 assists and 0.5 rebounds per game prior to her now five-game absence.
The Mercury and Sun go to battle on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT.
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
