Mercury continue homestand, including a rematch with defending champs

The Phoenix Mercury managed much-needed road wins in a four-game trip, including one at the Portland Fire without stars Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper. The Mercury ended their six-game skid with a 72-68 win over the Seattle Storm on June 3. The wins in Seattle and Portland both count in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup race.

This week, the Mercury are at home with the in-season tournament finale against the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday, June 17, and another matchup against the Storm on Saturday, June 20. There hasn’t been a meeting between the Mercury and the Aces since the Mercury’s surprising blowout win in Las Vegas in the season opener on May 9. But since then, A’ja Wilson has led the WNBA in points (25.

9) and blocks (2.4), while remaining in the top five in rebounds (9.6).

The Storm have struggled in Commissioner’s Cup play with four losses, including two 20-point blowouts against the Dallas Wings and Minnesota Lynx. Through 13 games, Seattle was tied with the Connecticut Sun for the worst offense, 76.2 points per game.

Entering the Mercury's matchup Thursday, June 11, with Dallas, Copper was averaging 17.4 points per game, Thomas 15.6 points and Natasha Mack 8.

4 rebounds per game. Thomas was second behind Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark for the WNBA lead in assists, posting 7.7 per game for the Mercury.

Reach the reporter or send tips for stories at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com, as well as @jennarortiz on X.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mercury continue homestand, welcome Las Vegas and Seattle