A tale of an ascending Sun, from ESPNвЂ™s Mechelle Voepel.With out, steps up with season-high 30 PTS to help pick up a road victory! #WatchMeWork /2nUg6G3LwO- WNBA May 31, 2018 But with both teams undoubtedly frustrated and eager to reassert themselves in the league, this one promises to be either really beautiful or really ugly. Meanwhile, the Mercury, of course, will do everything they can to avoid a fourth straight loss and halt further skidding down the standings.ДЇor Phoenix, the Friday night matchup is much more of a must-win situation than it is for the Lynx. The Lynx will seek to redeem themselves following a loss to the Atlanta Dream this week in which they exhibited some of the worst play basketball fans have ever seen from them. Next up for the Mercury is a matchup against the Lynx on Friday night - in Minnesota - on ESPN2. So, who for this team can and will step up to give Phoenix a fighting chance of contending for another title? But, so far, it doesnвЂ™t seem she can be relied upon for that kind of production every night. If not for LyttleвЂ™s 20 points, the Mercury would have been blown out of the game against LA. After her hot, history-making start to the season, Taurasi has cooled off significantly since the loss to the Storm during which experienced a quad strain that had her listed as вЂњprobableвЂќ for the matchup in LA four days later. Yes, LAвЂ™s Tricky Trio of Nneka Ogwumike, Chelsea Gray and Odyssey Sims can be a deadly weapon for the Sparks, but Candace Parker was on the bench for much of the game due to foul trouble.ДЄgainst the Mystics last night, the Mercury lost at home even though Elena Delle Donne, Tayler Hill and Natasha Cloud did not play for Washington.Д«rittney Griner and DeWanna Bonner put up big offensive games, with 27 points and 25 points respectively, but where in tarnation is the bloody defense? Sancho Lyttle was the team-high rebounder with 7, but the Mercury were out-rebounded as a team, 31-26.Д«riann January contributed 11 points, but it was another quiet game for Diana Taurasi, who scored 9 points and dished 6 assists. In LA on Sunday, the Mercury appeared to have just thrown in the towel in the fourth quarter, as if they didnвЂ™t bother to try because they assumed a loss was inevitable. The alarming thing about the MercuryвЂ™s most recent losses against the LA Sparks on Sunday and the Mystics last night is that these are games the team could have won but didnвЂ™t (as the players seemed unfocused and undisciplined at times), and definitely should have won, given that the opposing teams were missing key players. The Mercury now sit seventh in the standings, just one spot ahead of the also-struggling Lynx. Toliver and the Mystics have demonstrated with resounding clarity, however, that a new sheriff is in town.ДЄfter a strong start to the season with wins over the Dallas Wings and the Seattle Storm, the Phoenix Mercury just picked up its third straight loss against the Washington Mystics last night. Once-dominant teams like the Minnesota Lynx and Mercury have exhibited lackluster, lifeless performances signaling the eventual end of an old guard. As it is, the Mystics are leading a trend that has emerged in these early weeks of the season: Overlooked players on overlooked teams are on the rise, bringing a new batch of WNBA superstars into formation before our very eyes. The rule here should be to avoid tampering with what is apparently working very well. It will be interesting to see how Mystics Head Coach Mike Thibault integrates Delle Donne back into the lineup, and whether he will make any changes to the starting rotation given that those players, including Delle Donne, have not been getting it done.

The Mystics got it done behind Kristi ToliverвЂ™s game-high 30 points, another 21 from underappreciated Ariel Atkins and a sick 13-point, 12-rebound double-double from Tianna Hawkins.ДЄgain, this team has been killing it without its star player and with lackluster performances from the other starters. The three-hour flight from Seattle to Phoenix proved to be no problem at all for this team, even with its star player, Elena Delle Donne, at home recovering from a stomach bug. ThatвЂ™s right - WashingtonвЂ™s dominant win over a team that is supposedly contending for a championship came during a road trip, and the second game of a back-to-back. WashingtonвЂ™s only loss was to the Seattle Storm the night before. Last night in Phoenix, a Kristi Toliver-led Washington team handed the hometown heroes their third straight loss and improved to 5-1 for the season.

Rise of the phoenix dying light