Liberty Falls to Mercury, Faces Winner-Take-All Game 3

BROOKLYN—The Phoenix Mercury got hot at the perfect time to save its postseason fate against the New York Liberty.

It was Phoenix's turn to stage a defensive coup on the road in the ongoing WNBA Playoff series against New York, allowing it to take an 86-60 decision in Game 2 of the opening round playoff series at Barclays Center. The 26-point decision is the worst the Liberty has endured in a playoff home game, passing the tally of 18 in their 2022 elimination at the hands of the Chicago Sky.

Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas led a well-balanced scoring effort with 15 points each while DeWanner Bonner and Kahleah Copper were both one tally behind them.

A well-balanced scoring attack and runaway effort after a mostly even first quarter sets up a winner-take-all clash on Friday night back the desert, with the winner facing either the Minnesota Lynx or Golden State Valkyries in a second round set that tips off two days later. The tip-off time for Game 3 is to be determined.

With the hosts energized by the return of Breanna Stewart, a game-time decision after leaving the overtime session of Game 1 early, t he game was knotted at 25 after 10 minutes but things got out of hand after that: New York once again couldn't keep its hands on the ball, losing 14 turnovers that yielded 25 points.