Defense fuels Phoenix's second-half rally as Mercury top Los Angeles Sparks
The Mercury trailed by as many as 18, but stepped up their defense in the second half, holding the Sparks to 6-for-30 (20%) from the field and 0-for-15 (0%) from 3.
LOS ANGELES — The Phoenix Mercury overcame another slow start and stepped up their defensive effort in the second half to beat the Los Angeles Sparks, 85-80 on Sunday.
Playing without Alyssa Thomas (left calf) for the second consecutive game, the Mercury (5-2) looked lost both offensively and defensively in the first half, which saw them fall behind by 18 with two minutes left in the second quarter.
At that point, Phoenix was shooting 9-for-32 (28.1%) from the field and missing wide open shots while allowing Los Angeles easy looks offensively.
The Mercury went the final 5:59 of the first half with only one field goal and had a stretch of more than four minutes without one.
“That was just a poor, poor first half on our part. We looked tired,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “And this is a tough stretch for us.”
The Mercury slowly started chipping away at the Sparks’ lead. Phoenix ended the second quarter on a 7-2 run while forcing four Los Angeles turnovers in the final minute.
“I remember Nate saying in the timeout, ‘We don't have to start a new half after the half, like we can start right now,’” Mercury forward Kathryn Westbeld said.
“And so I think that was the motivation of let's not have a complete crappy first half. Let's start right now and turn this game around.”
Satou Sabally was assessed a technical foul as the teams were walking to their respective locker rooms. She struggled in the first half, shooting 3-for-13 but was 4-for-6 in the second half, where 13 of her team-high 24 points came.
“(Sabally) is a special player and I think at times she gets affected by things around her, and I think that's part of her growth,” Tibbetts said.
“That’s why I'm so excited that she's here and the future that we’re gonna have just trying to help her continue to improve as a player. She's been so dang coachable.”
Kelsey Plum made the technical free throw to begin the second half, growing the Sparks’ lead to 50-37, but the Mercury got three stops in a row to start the second half while forcing four more Los Angeles turnovers. Both teams finished with 14 turnovers.
After the Plum free throw, the Mercury went on a 10-0 run to cut Los Angeles’ once 18-point lead to four.
“Defense. The answer is always defense with that,” Westbeld said on what allowed the Mercury to make the comeback they did.
“I think the first half we weren't ourselves in any category, and it always starts on defense. So I think we got three stops in a row. And that just leads to the offense.”
As much as the Mercury defense improved in the second half — they held the Sparks to 6-for-30 (20%) from the field and 0-for-15 (0%) from 3 — the offense looked much better as well.
The Mercury offense became less stagnant as they did a better job moving the ball, they had 14 assists on 16 made field goals in the second half.
Westbeld was also instrumental on both ends of the floor in the third-quarter comeback. Ten of her 15 points came in the period, and she was a +14.
Her 3-pointer with 2:11 left in the third put the Mercury ahead 58-57, the team’s first lead since it was 14-13 midway through the first quarter.
“I've just been extremely pleased with her defensively,” Tibbetts said about Westbeld. “I didn't know that she was going to be this good defensively.
“She does a good job in (the) pick-and-roll. She does a good job as the low. She’s got verticality. She's a solid player, and she hit some big 3s tonight in the second half for sure.”
After Westbeld’s big shot, it was a back and forth contest that saw neither team able to pull ahead in the game that had 13 lead changes and seven ties.
As Plum struggled offensively in the second half, going 1-for-13 (7.7%) and 0-for-7 (0%) from 3, the Sparks turned to Odyssey Sims every time they needed a bucket.
Sims had 32 points (on 10-for-14 shooting), the most she’s scored since she had 39 as a rookie 11 years ago.
“I want to give Sims a lot of credit,” Tibbetts said. “She had a great game tonight. She got downhill to her left hand.
“When she's making shots, she's really tough. She was 3-for-5 (from 3). We didn't do a very good job of guarding her in that first half.”
Sims had 11 of the Sparks’ first 18 points and finished the opening half with 17.
After signing a hardship contract earlier on Sunday, Haley Jones made her Mercury debut, checking in for the first time at the end of the third. She played 3:45 and scored a layup early in the fourth.
As both teams battled, Sabally hit two big 3s down the stretch to create some separation from the Sparks. Those were her only 3s of the game, and seven of Sabally’s points came in the final period.
“I made some of my shots, but honestly, I think it's just like staying consistent throughout the game. I wasn't too worried,” Sabally said.
“So you make shots, you miss shots, but just keeping staying level headed, and carrying along. You know the whole game, just trusting yourself.”
The Sparks wouldn’t go away and had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final minute, down 80-78.
After Plum missed a 3, the Sparks grabbed two massive offensive rebounds, but after a timeout, the Mercury escaped thanks to a huge steal from Kitija Laksa.
“I've been extremely proud of how we've competed at the defensive end,” Tibbetts said. “We've played with toughness and grit most of the year. That first half was not us, and we responded, and we really stepped up.”
Phoenix then made its free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The Mercury will now look for revenge against the Lynx (7-0) in Minnesota on Tuesday at 5 p.m. MST. The game can be watched on Arizona’s Family Sports.