Mercury, Fire in must-win mode entering matchup

The Phoenix Mercury and Portland Fire are walking a tightrope. With every game a must-win, the teams meet in Phoenix on Sunday in an attempt to keep slim playoff hopes alive.

The Mercury (13-22) have lost three of four despite adding Kelsey Plum and are seven games behind Dallas (20-15) and Washington (19-14) for the final two playoff spots with nine games remaining. The Fire (14-20) sits in ninth at 5 1/2 games back after winning three of four.

"We did not expect to be in this predicament but we're still going to fight," said Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, whose team made the WNBA Finals last season but has not been over .500 since beating Las Vegas in the season opener.

"It's about us at this point, and what we want the rest of our season to look like. It's just about finishing strong, taking a game at a time. You don't know what the outcome will be."

The Fire are playing well. They held off Seattle 84-82 on the road to finish a four-game season sweep Friday behind a career-high 20 points from rookie guard Holly Winterburn. Two days before, they trimmed a 29-point deficit to 78-77 before falling to Minnesota 85-81.

"I thought that was a career breakout performance," Fire coach Alex Sarama said of Winterburn, who added seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.

"She's been a big part of that get-better group, really just learning the principles of play offensively and defensively. Really pleased with her development."

Winterburn's previous high was six points as she plays a reserve role behind top scorers Carla Leite (15.5, 6.2 assists), Bridget Carleton (14.6) and Megan DiLeo (12.9), formerly Gustafson.

Leite and Thomas (14.8, 8.2 assists) are two of the seven WNBA players averaging at least 14 points and five assists.

The Mercury won the first meeting 78-72 behind DeWanna Bonner's 19 points on June 5, when leading scorers Kahleah Copper (20.6 points) and Thomas were out with injuries.

Plum (left leg) missed the Mercury's 94-87 victory Tuesday against her former team, the Los Angeles Sparks, and her status is unknown.

Rookie Noemie Brochant scored a season-high 24 points against the Sparks.

"She (Brochant) played with a lot of force all night, and that was important," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said.

The Mercury has found success with a zone defense after playing man much of the season.

"It's a way to save your legs," Thomas said. "When we were able to get stops we were able to get out and run a little more and really get what we wanted offensively. It really changed the pace of the game."

--Field Level Media