Indiana Fever (7-11) at Phoenix Mercury (8-11)
Date: Friday, July 8, 2016
Time: 10:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: Talking Stick Resort Arena (Phoenix, AZ)
Television: None
Webcast: Live webcast and stats can be accessed via WNBA League Pass on FeverBasketball.com
Probable Starters
Fever– F- Tamika Catchings, F-Lynetta Kizer, C-Erlana Larkins, G- Erica Wheeler, G-Briann January
Mercury– F- Sonja Petrovic, F- Candice Dupree, C- Brittney Griner, G- DeWanna Bonner, G- Dianna Taurasi
Storylines & Promotion
• The Indiana Fever continue a three-game Western Conference road trip Friday night as they travel to Phoenix for a 10:00 p.m. tip with the Mercury.
• Friday’s game will not be televised locally, but fans can follow all the action by watching WNBA League Pass via FeverBasketball.com or by following live updates on Twitter @IndianaFever.
• In Wednesday’s game at Los Angeles, the Fever tied the WNBA record with 39 fourth-quarter points as they chipped a 21-point deficit down to one point, 88-89 with 12.2 seconds remaining. But Indiana’s comeback attempt fell just short as Briann January’s three-point try to tie the game on the last possession was blocked and the Sparks held on for a 94-88 win.
• While tying the record for the most fourth-quarter points scored, Indiana became only the sixth team in WNBA history to score at least 39 points in any quarter.
• The Fever have now cut leads of 20 or more points down to a single possession twice this season, previously closing a 24-point second-half deficit to two points at Minnesota on May 27. In both games, the Fever had chances to tie the game and force overtime on their final possession but fell just short.
• Tamika Catchings played in her 441st career game Wednesday night to move into 8th place on the WNBA’s career list. She also became the fourth player in league history to eclipse 14,000 minutes played.
• With 14 points in Wednesday’s loss, Catchings has now scored in double figures in seven straight games and leads the team with an average of 13.7 points per game.
• After scoring in double figures only once over her previous six games, Tiffany Mitchell led Indiana with 20 points off the bench Wednesday night for her second game with 20 or more this season. Mitchell ranks second on the team and second among all WNBA rookies with an average of 11.7 points per game.
• The Mercury stumbled through the early portion of their schedule, but have heated up of late scoring 86 or more points in seven of their last eight games to improve their record to 8-11. Phoenix had won four of its previous five games before suffering a 74-77 loss at Dallas in the last outing Tuesday night.
• Phoenix is led by a pair of All-Stars and Olympians in Diana Taurasi and Britney Griner. Taurasi is averaging 19.2 points per game, fifth in the WNBA, while Griner had added 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and a league-high 2.8 blocks per game.
Last Meeting
(May 18, 2016) INDIANAPOLIS – Shenise Johnson, Devereaux Peters and Erica Wheeler all finished with 16 points apiece as Indiana used an 11-0 fourth-quarter run to outlast the Phoenix Mercury, 97-93, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. After the Fever trailed 76-80 with 7:00 left to play in the fourth quarter, Indiana rattled off 11 unanswered points to take an 87-80 lead with 4:28 remaining. The Fever extended their run to 19-6 as they took their largest lead of the night, 95-86, with 1:49 left to play to help them hang on for the win.
Series
Indiana swept the season series over Phoenix last season after losing four consecutive regular season games to the Mercury during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. A fourth consecutive win over Phoenix would tie Indiana’s longest winning streak over the Mercury in the history of the series. Indiana holds a 19-11 all-time record over the Mercury, including an 8-6 mark at Phoenix.