Storm eyeing top-4 seed as Mercury come to town

After a 1-4 homestand, the Phoenix Mercury hit the road Saturday to face a Seattle Storm team battling for one of the top four spots heading into the WNBA playoffs.

The Storm (20-14) are coming off a 77-70 loss at the New York Liberty on Thursday. Heading into Friday's action, Seattle was 1 1/2 games behind the Las Vegas Aces for the No. 4 seed.

The Storm have six regular-season games remaining, two of them against the Mercury (17-18) -- on Saturday and in the finale at Phoenix on Sept. 19.

"We have to be close to perfect now," said Seattle's Gabby Williams after the loss to the Liberty about getting the No. 4 seed. "The mental lapses today can't happen again for us to be in position we want to be in."

Williams had 17 points against New York while former Mercury player Skylar Diggins-Smith led the team with 21.

Diggins-Smith, a six-time WNBA All-Star, signed with the Storm as a free agent in February after playing her three previous seasons (2020-22) with the Mercury.

In the only previous meeting this season between the Mercury and Storm, Diggins-Smith had 14 points and eight assists in Seattle's 87-78 loss at Phoenix on June 16.

Phoenix clinched a playoff berth with a 74-66 win over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night, its only win of the five-game homestand.

The Mercury are coming off a 90-77 loss to the Washington Mystics, an 11-23 team still challenging for the final playoff spot.

Brittney Griner had 15 points and five rebounds against the Mystics. Diana Taurasi was held to eight points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field.

Natasha Cloud finished with 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting in her return from a one-game suspension after she was assessed with her seventh technical foul of the season.

"I thought us missing shots early maybe affected how hard we played," Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said. "We're in a stretch right now that's every other (night) and we might've given in to the frustration and fatigue."

--Field Level Media