What’s been inevitable for more than a month became official Saturday when the Phoenix Mercury were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs.
Season-long issues with a lack of size leading to defensive lapses and costly turnovers again were an issue in the first half of a 99-89 loss to Atlanta.
The Mercury (13-24) are 3-17 against the eight teams that are bound for the playoffs, one season after they went 27-17 overall (fourth place) and had a magical playoff run to the WNBA Finals.
Aside from a 33-point, season-opening win at Las Vegas, the magic has been missing all season resulting in postseason elimination with seven regular-season games remaining.
The Mercury’s were 8-13 at midseason then lost their next five games and any realistic chance of a third straight playoff appearance by July 17.
“The injuries, our defense has taken a step back, 3-point shooting, those are just some of the things that come to mind,” coach Nate Tibbetts said of the 2026 dropoff. “Last year, we won a lot of our close games, this year we haven’t. That makes a big difference.”
The Mercury actually are not terrible (10-13) in games decided by less than 10 points compared to 3-11 in games lost by 10 or more. More disconcerting is a 5-12 home record despite 16 sellouts including 12,431 Saturday.
Phoenix is tied with Los Angeles for 11th place in the 15-team WNBA and still could finish anywhere from ninth to 13th.
“Right now we’re playing for pride,” Tibbetts said. “All of us are disappointed with how the season has done. But like in the second half (vs. Atlanta), you can lay your head down at night and know that you competed, played the right way, played with passion and played to our standard.”
The Mercury outscored Atlanta 54-49 in the second half after trailing by 15 at halftime.
They again were without star guard Kelsey Plum, acquired in a trade Aug. 2 but yet to play at home due to a leg injury. Plum played in three road games after the trade and was questionable before Saturday then downgraded to out.
Kahleah Copper, who had 38 points against Atlanta, and Plum are the U.S. team for the World Cup, Sept. 4-13 in Berlin. Tibbetts is a U.S. assistant coach.
The Mercury play three home games before the World Cup and four after the break. Seeing more of Alyssa Thomas, Copper and Plum together is important going into 2027, assuming Plum re-signs with the Mercury and the other two stars (under contract for next year) are retained.
Thomas had a third triple-double Saturday with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists. She became the first WNBA player with 5,000-plus points, 3,000-plus rebounds and 2,000-plus assists in 13 seasons.
But Thomas and Copper will miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and 2018 respectively.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Thomas said. “It’s not what we anticipated for the season, but there’s still games to be played. It’s hard to say what the goal is, but I think it’s just about continuing to build our brand of basketball.”
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