For the third time in two weeks and the final time this regular season, the Phoenix Mercury and Atlanta Dream will clash without five players even though there are major playoff implications behind the matchup.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Mercury have been without Rebecca Allen (Right Hamstring) and Charisma Osborne (Left Lower Leg) for an extended period of time, but now Natasha Cloud is suspended for hitting the technical foul limit this season. As for Atlanta, two-time (2016, 2019) WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year runner-up Aerial Powers (Left Calf) and 2023 All-Star Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (Left Ankle) did not travel with the team.
Being dealt her seventh tech of the year after she was guarding Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum on Sunday, Cloud was suspended by the WNBA the next day. This will be only the second game she will miss since signing with the Mercury in the offseason, having suffered a left knee injury and sitting out the 95-86 loss to the Indiana Fever on July 12. In her first season in the Valley thus far, she has averaged 11.6 points, 6.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Before Allen and Team Australia headed to the 2024 Paris Olympics, she sustained her injury in the Opals’ final exhibition against Canada on July 23. Australia would go on to win the bronze medal, but the 31-year-old was ruled out for the tournament. She has been seen at practice lately, so her recovery is ramping up.
Since July 28, Osborne has been sidelined and has played just two games this season after being waived after training camp and re-signing with the team on June 13. Once wearing a boot, she has been spotted not wearing it.
Powers, the Dallas Wings’ fifth overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft, is regarded as one of the better bench players in the league. She is averaging 10.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 190 games (56 starts). So far this season, the Michigan native has played 17 games (two starts) with 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. She has not played since July 17 before the Olympic break, and there is no update on a possible timeline for a return.
Parker-Tyus has started in 11 games in her fourth season as a Dream, racking up 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game across 25 games. She was the fifth overall pick by the Chicago Sky in the 2015 WNBA Draft and has averaged 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 280 career games between the Sky (2015-20) and the Dream (2021-24).
On a three-game losing streak, the Mercury slipped from sixth to seventh in the standings after the Fever overtook them. Phoenix is 16-17 while Indiana is 17-16, with the Fever playing the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Atlanta is tied with Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot. Both teams are 11-21 on the season and will be going neck-and-neck with eight games to go each. Chicago battles the Aces tonight.
Indiana will clinch a playoff spot if both the Sky and the Dream lose. Phoenix will claim a postseason berth if they win against Atlanta and Chicago loses to Vegas.
Phoenix leads the season series over Atlanta 2-1 after a down-to-the-wire, 82-80 win on Aug. 23. The Dream did beat the Mercury 72-63 a few days before that on Aug. 21, and Phoenix won their first encounter 88-85 on May 18.
Tip-off between the Mercury and Dream begins at 7 p.m. PT inside Footprint Center.
Mercury’s Natasha Cloud suspended 1 game for reaching 7 technical fouls this season
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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
