MINNEAPOLIS -- Brittney Griner had 14 points and 11 rebounds in her season debut after serving a suspension for domestic violence, but it wasn't enough as the Phoenix Mercury lost to the Minnesota Lynx 71-56 on Saturday night behind Maya Moore's 21 points.
Griner was 5 of 9 from the field for the Mercury (3-5), who shot just 33 percent for the game and turned the ball over 20 times. DeWanna Bonner and Monique Currie combined to shoot 7 for 27.
Rebekkah Brunson had 14 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks and Lindsay Whalen scored 21 points for the Lynx (7-2).
Griner missed the first seven games of the season while serving her suspension for an altercation with then-fiancee Glory Johnson at their home in April. Griner pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, agreeing to undergo 26 weeks of domestic violence counseling. If she completes it, the charges will be dismissed.
Griner married Johnson a few weeks after the incident, but a day after Johnson announced she was pregnant through in vitro fertilization, Griner said she was filing for an annulment. After so much drama, Griner was relieved to be restoring some normalcy to her life with her return to the court.
"Basketball is my safe zone, being back on the court means everything for me, basketball is my life," Griner said on Tuesday. "I'm ready to go. I definitely have been watching and I have been doing everything off the court to be on the court."
One of the league's highest profile players, Griner was back in the starting lineup Saturday night. But the Mercury had trouble reincorporating their star player against a hard-nosed Lynx defense.
The 6-foot-8 Griner attempted only four shots in the first three quarters. Phoenix turned the ball over 11 times and shot just 24 percent to fall behind by 14 at the break.
But Griner looked more like her dominant self in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points to help trim an 18-point deficit to seven with two minutes to play.
Brunson responded with a free throw, and Moore finished a reverse layup to seal the win.
Bonner missed eight of her first nine shots, but still finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.
The Lynx lost to the Mercury in the Western Conference finals last season, ending their run of three straight trips to the WNBA Finals.
When Mercury star Diana Taurasi announced she would not play this season at the behest of her team in Russia, the Lynx again became the favorites to come out of the West.
Even after six wins in their first eight games, the Lynx had yet to find that extra gear that made propelled them to two titles in three seasons. But they roared back from 18 points down to beat Seattle earlier this week and locked in defensively against the Mercury on Saturday night to give the Mercury their second straight loss.
