The Phoenix Mercury look like a shell of the team that was in the WNBA Finals last season.
The Mercury are 2-8 and riding a six-game losing streak. The latest loss came Monday, an 111-77 blowout to the Minnesota Lynx.
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By halftime, Phoenix had given up 67 points to Minnesota. Per ESPN, it tied a record for the third-most points in any half during a road game in WNBA history. The Lynx also shot a blistering 75% from the field during the first half. Phoenix ultimately relinquished 50 points in the paint during the matchup, lost the rebounding battle 35-24 and let the Lynx rack up 23 points from turnovers.
Monday’s 34-point defeat was the Mercury’s second-largest home loss in franchise history and largest since 2012. Five Lynx players finished in double figures, including Courtney Williams, who had 30 points and five rebounds. Rookie Olivia Miles added 19 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals.
“I lost seven straight. I won a championship, so that’s just what’s in my mind right now. I do want to come out of it, but just every day, not falling into the record and what that says and whatever,” guard Kahleah Copper said postgame.
“We have to continue to hold this standard of what it takes to be a championship team. What it took for us to do that last year, it’s not easy. It just doesn’t carry over just because you did it. So for us it’s about just everybody looking in the mirror, I think.”
Phoenix returned four of its five starters from the lineup that took it to the WNBA Finals, plus several players from its bench. That level of continuity should have put Phoenix in a position to succeed early, and it did, until it didn’t.
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The Mercury opened the season with a 99-66 victory over the Las Vegas Aces, the team that swept them in the Finals. However, since then, Phoenix has one win, and it’s currently holding a 110.0 defensive rating, second-worst in the WNBA. The Mercury have given up 80 points or more in eight matchups this season. Four of those same matchups have ended with the opposing team scoring 90 points or more.
Phoenix is also struggling in the second half of its matchups. The fourth quarter has been particularly rough. Phoenix has been outscored 218-183, often giving up late runs to opposing teams or playing catch-up. Copper and head coach Nate Tibbets acknowledged spacing and defensive lapses as overall issues in Monday’s loss to Minnesota, but both emphasized that the Mercury will get to the bottom of their woes.
“You wanna just get over the hump to just feel a little bit better, but we gotta continue to stack the days,” Copper said. “I think we are searching. We’re on a hunt. I don’t think today really reflects who we are and what we want to be able to represent for the organization, but we’re going to get it right. We’re going to figure it out.”
“It’s one of those things where when you start to lose, people start to hang their head a little bit,” Tibbets said. “We’re gonna get this figured out. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but we gotta keep working.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Phoenix Mercury go from WNBA Finals to bottom on standings
