Mercury's Diana Taurasi shoots for milestone against Dream

Diana Taurasi has a chance to reach 10,000 career points when she and her Phoenix Mercury teammates host the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night.

Taurasi, the WNBA's all-time leading scorer, put herself in position to reach the milestone after scoring a season-high 29 points in a 72-71 road loss to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday. That surpassed her previous season-high of 24 that she had on Sunday.

Averaging 16.1 points on the season, Taurasi is 18 points short of 10,000.

"When it happens, it happens," Taurasi, 41, said. "It'll be fun. It'll be a cool moment for our city and franchise and all the people who have been in my corner for a long time.

"I really don't think about the number. I've always said I just play basketball because I love playing. Literally that's the only reason I keep showing up at the gym."

The anticipation of Taurasi's latest milestone is a rare bright spot in what has been a poor season for the Mercury (6-19), who are tied for the worst record in the league.

"Years like this take a toll on you," Taurasi said, "but I'm really proud of this group. We prepare like we're chasing a championship."

The Dream (14-12), meanwhile, actually are chasing a championship as they sit in the middle of the playoff pack, though they're coming off a 93-72 loss to the league-leading Aces in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Atlanta has gotten a lift from forward Nia Coffey, who scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Washington on Sunday, then scored 14 points against the Aces.

"Nia has been our steady Eddie all season, somebody we can depend on, on the defensive end," Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said.

Coffey joined the Dream before last season after playing with the Mercury in 2020 and Los Angeles in 2021.

"When we got Nia, this is who we thought we'd be getting," Wright said. "I'm happy to see it come to fruition for her. She put in a ton of work in the offseason."