Cellar dwellers Mercury, Fever set to clash

In mid-May, the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever began new seasons with such promise.

Phoenix welcomed Brittney Griner back to a veteran-laden roster and Indiana added No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston to a team stocked with young talent and looking to take a step up the WNBA ladder.

On Tuesday night, when the teams meet in Indianapolis, none of the promise that existed back in May will be on the floor. The Mercury are 6-18, the Fever 6-19. Between the two, there are 31 games to play out before it's over.

Griner won't be on hand Tuesday. The 6-foot-9 center is taking a mental health break and did not travel with the team for its current two-game road trip. Phoenix missed her dearly on Sunday, falling 104-85 in Chicago, while watching the Sky make 12 of 21 3-pointers.

Griner is averaging a team-high 18.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while also making 57.3 percent of her shots from the field. She missed last season while detained in a Russian prison after being arrested on drug charges.

"We will continue to work together on a time for her return," the Mercury said in a press release on Saturday.

Indiana continued its recent poor form Sunday with an 85-62 home loss to the Seattle Storm, which entered the game with the league's worst record at 5-19. The Storm went 53.4 percent from the field, including 12 of 24 shots from the 3-point line.

Defense, especially late in games, has been a consistent problem for the Fever during a stretch where they've lost four straight and 12 out of 13.

"Enough is enough when it comes to what we're trying to do and how we keep failing in this area right here, at the end," coach Christie Sides said.

Indiana hasn't had the best luck during this stretch, either. It lost starting forward NaLyssa Smith (foot) six games ago, taking away their second-leading scorer (15.6) and top rebounder (9.7).

Phoenix has won both meetings of the teams this season, including an 85-63 decision on June 29 in Phoenix.