A visit from the Seattle Storm might offer the Mercury a good chance to bounce back from its first defeat in more than two weeks.
The Mercury have won eight consecutive games over the Storm, who visit US Airways Center on Wednesday night. The game can be seen on FOX Sports Arizona, starting at 7 p.m.
Brittney Griner recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds on Sunday at Chicago, but Phoenix (14-8) was on the wrong end of a 19-2 run to open the second half and saw its five-game winning streak end with a 74-64 loss to the Sky. It's the third defeat in the last 14 games for the reigning WNBA champions, who are 2 1/2 games behind first-place Minnesota in the Western Conference.
Despite the setback, Griner earned player-of-the-week honors in the West by averaging 17.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.3 blocks in the last three games.
"When she does the little things before the shot, she's difficult to guard," said Mercury coach Sandy Brondello, whose team last dropped two in a row July 18 and 21.
Two of the Mercury's victories over that 11-3 stretch came in consecutive contests against Seattle (6-17) on July 10 and 12. Phoenix has won the last eight meetings by an average of 15.0 points.
"They are a very good team, and you can't take that away from them," Storm guard Sue Bird told the WNBA's official website. "I think that for us to play well, we just have to play at that really fast, up-tempo pace."
Seattle also must do a better job of containing Griner after she scored a season-high 26 points during a 70-60 home win in the teams' most recent meeting on July 12.
Though the Storm face a tall order in trying to end a four-game slide at Phoenix, they should have some momentum after snapping a 10-game road losing streak with Tuesday's 85-77 victory at Los Angeles. Crystal Langhorne scored 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting and scored the go-ahead layup with 2:34 remaining as Seattle overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to snap a five-game overall slide and improve to 2-12 on the road.
Seattle has the worst record in the WNBA but is only one game behind the Sparks for the West's final playoff spot.
Bird, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Jewell Loyd each had 15 points for the Storm, who will conclude a six-game trek before playing the next six at home.
Langhorne has totaled 47 points in the last two games but combined for 11 in the last two meetings with Phoenix.
