Diana Taurasi, Candice Dupree lead as Phoenix Mercury hold off Atlanta Dream 92-83 - WNBA Recap
Diana Taurasi scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Phoenix Mercury won their third consecutive game of the season with an impressive 92-83 victory over the Atlanta Dream at Philips Arena on Friday night.
The 29-year-old guard also blocked three shots and nailed 3 of 3 from downtown.
Candice Dupree had 19 points and six rebounds while Penny Taylor contributed 17 points, game high10 rebounds and eight assists for Mercury, who improved to 3-3 in the season. Taylor fell short of just two assist to record a triple-double.
The 30-year-old forward later said that it didn’t matter much.
"That's good, very good," Taylor said. "Does not really mean much. We won. That's what matters."
Kara Braxton also scored 17 points, shooting 7 for 9 from the field, and also grabbed four rebounds for Phoenix.
The leading scorer for Phoenix, Taurasi acknowledged the team effort of her teammates and said, "We had a lot of people play well, and that's what we need to win games.” "A lot of people participating, and today if you go up and
down (the stat sheet), I think we did that."
Angel McCoughtry led Atlanta with a game-high 24 points, six boards, three steals, and two assists. Lindsey Harding and Courtney Paris added 13 points each for the Dream, who have lost three of their last four games. Paris also
grabbed eight rebounds while Iziane Castro Marques ended with 12 points in the loss.
Mercury played one of their best offensive games of the season. They shot 89.5 percent from free throw line, 52.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. On the other hand, it was Atlanta’s inability to find
the rim that led to the defeat. They converted just 35.9 percent from the field.
Phoenix held a 10-5 lead early in the first quarter and widened it to 28-22 at the end of the quarter.
Mercury went a step ahead further in the second quarter and raced to a 42-29 lead with 06:51 to go in the first half. Dream then turned it on though and scored eight consecutive points to cut the deficit to five points, 42-37.
However, Phoenix outscored Atlanta 9-6 in the last four minutes of the second period to take a 51-43 lead into the locker room.
Trailing by eight points at halftime, Dream fought hard in the third quarter and finally trimmed the margin to six, 63-57, with 03:29 to go in the quarter. Mercury responded though and launched a 11-0 run in the last three minutes
of the third to take a 74-57 lead into the fourth.
Mercury didn’t lower their guard in the fourth and by the time Taurasi nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner and Taylor followed her with a fast-break layup midway through the quarter, the game was over. Atlanta scored a few
points in the garbage time, but it only helped in reducing the end deficit.
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