Phoenix Mercury playoff preview: Schedule, storylines and more

For the first time since 2013, the Phoenix Mercury have captured a top-four seed in the WNBA playoffs and will have homecourt advantage in the first round, which starts Sunday.

The team turned its roster almost completely over the offseason, saying goodbye to franchise stalwarts Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. In place of these two legends, the Mercury acquired perennial MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas and then built a team around her elite playmaking and defense. Thomas, surrounded by two younger stars and a cast of rookies and undervalued role players, has arguably been even better than her days with the Connecticut Sun, with a record eight triple-doubles this season for the 27-17 Mercury.

Now, the Mercury have their sights set on their first championship since 2014 — and what would be the first in Thomas’ storied career. Their trail back to the WNBA mountaintop will start when the Mercury host the reigning champion New York Liberty in the first game of a best-of-three series at 2 p.m. Sunday at PHX Arena.

Here is everything you need to know as the Mercury begin their postseason run this weekend in downtown Phoenix.

How to watch the Mercury in the playoffs

Game 1 will be at PHX Arena downtown at 2 p.m. on Sunday. If you want to root on the team, tickets are already available on the team’s website. As of Friday morning, there were still tickets available in the $30 range.

Game 2 of the series will be played in New York at 4:30 p.m. Arizona time on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Game 3, if necessary, would be back in Phoenix on Friday, Sept. 19, with tipoff time still to be determined.

The full slate of WNBA postseason games will air on ESPN networks, including ABC. All three games of the Mercury’s first-round series are set to be carried on ESPN and fubo TV.

If Phoenix dethrones the champs, the team would advance to the semifinals to take on the winner of the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx and the eighth-seeded Golden State Valkyries in a best-of-five series. If the Mercury continue on through to the WNBA Finals, the seven-game series will begin on Oct. 5.

How the Mercury got here

With a top-heavy roster, the Mercury will only go as far as their stars take them in the postseason. Unfortunately, the team has not had much time with its “Big 3” fully healthy to develop chemistry and balance.

One of just two holdovers from the 2024 squad, wing Kahleah Copper has become one of the Mercury’s key locker room leaders. But her on-court production has dipped this season after she underwent left knee surgery in May. The injury limited Copper to just 28 of 44 games this season and her worst field-goal percentage since 2019.

Satou Sabally, the youngest of Phoenix’s “Big 3,” also had an uneven season. After requesting a trade out of Dallas in the offseason, Sabally hit the ground running in Phoenix and was named an All-Star game starter. Her momentum was stopped by a July ankle injury, from which she had a rocky return. Sabally was benched in an August loss to Atlanta for what head coach Nate Tibbetts called a lack of energy. She then took a temporary “personal absence” from the team. The Mercury hope a strong Sabally performance in the team’s final home game, with 24 points and sound perimeter defense, augurs a strong playoffs.

The Mercury have managed those absences because Thomas has been transcendent. The Phoenix newcomer nearly averaged a triple-double this season, putting up 15.1 points, 9.2 assists and 8.8 rebounds per game. She led the WNBA in assists, outpacing the second-best passer by almost 100. (She also led the league in turnovers.) The Mercury run because Thomas makes them.

Despite the limited time with their stars sharing the court, the Mercury are confident heading into the postseason.

“We’re gonna take whoever,” Copper said. “It really doesn’t matter. At this point, it’s whoever. We’re going to prepare, we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do. And whoever we’ve got, we’re coming.”

Key to victory: Unheralded newcomers

The WNBA uses a hard salary cap, meaning WNBA teams cannot exceed that season’s limit for player salaries under any circumstances. As a result, the Mercury were forced to get creative filling out their roster around Thomas, Sabally and Copper.

Returning starting center and fan favorite Natasha Mack has improved greatly in her second season. Tibbetts has praised her defensive versatility and conditioning in a larger role.

The other spots on the roster were bigger question marks, but general manager Nick U’Ren is in contention for WNBA Executive of the Year because he found older rookies and international players who could contribute in Phoenix. Starting guard Monique Akoa-Makani is likely to earn All-Rookie team honors for elite perimeter defense and three-point shooting. Forward Kathryn Westbeld continues to produce despite being moved to the bench midseason, shooting 39% from deep in August and defending bigger post players at a high level.

Veteran sharpshooter Sami Whitcomb comes in as one of the only Phoenix players with championship experience. Whitcomb has become a vocal on-court presence for the team and will pull from two title runs with the Seattle Storm to stabilize the Mercury this fall.

Seemingly one rotation player short most of the season, the Mercury reunited with veteran forward DeWanna Bonner in a surprise move in July. Bonner, a longtime Mercury fan favorite who played on the Mercury’s 2009 and 2014 championship teams, surprised many by signing with the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever last offseason. A poor fit there led her to leave the team before the All-Star break and rejoin the Mercury — and Thomas, who is her fianceé.

The silver lining of their early-season injuries is that the Mercury have far more trust in their newcomers than the average WNBA contender.

“Playoffs is a different beast,” Thomas said this week. “Most teams that win, it’s because of someone having a monster game off the bench.”

The opposition: Full of familiar faces

Starting with the tough first-round draw against New York, the Mercury will be going up against a slew of familiar faces throughout the playoffs. The head of the snake for the Liberty will be Natasha Cloud, the brash and physical enforcer who was traded for Thomas.

After the trade, Cloud called out Mercury management for its lack of transparency during the offseason, claiming she found out about the trade on social media. It’s a safe bet that Cloud, who has arguably been even better in New York than she was in Phoenix, will bring a little extra motivation to the court.

The first-round matchup will also be the first time the Mercury face off against former head coach Sandy Brondello, who won a title with the team in 2014. Brondello maintains close ties to the organization, even returning for a ceremony last season honoring the 2014 team.

Beyond that, a rematch with Minnesota looms in the second round. The Lynx eliminated the Mercury last season, but Tibbetts has cited the team’s performance in Game 1 of that series as a reason for confidence that his team can compete with the WNBA’s best teams.

“I was super proud of our staff and getting our team ready to play last year,” Tibbetts said this week. “Game 1 in Minnesota was like a one-possession game, and we put ourselves in position to beat one of the teams that made it to the Finals.”