Indiana Fever (0-1) at Phoenix Mercury (0-1)

Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Time: 10:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: Talking Stick Resort Arena (Phoenix, AZ)
TV: none
Live Stream: WNBA League Pass

Probable Starters
Fever: F- Shenise Johnson, F- Candice Dupree, C- Erlana Larkins, G- Marissa Coleman, G- Briann January
Mercury: F- Stephanie Talbot, F- Camille Little, C- Brittney Griner, G- Diana Taurasi, G- Danielle Robinson

The Indiana Fever continue their season-opening West Coast road swing with a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff game against the Phoenix Mercury.

The Fever opened their season with an 87-82 loss at Seattle on Sunday.The Mercury opened their season Saturday with a 68-58 home loss to the Dallas Wings. The game marks a homecoming of sorts for forward Candice Dupree, who spent the past seven seasons with the Mercury and won a title with the franchise in 2014. With 5,115 career points, Dupree needs just five points to move into 14th on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list ahead of Swin Cash (5,119).

Storylines & Promotion
• Forward Shenise Johnson led the Fever with a career-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Saturday’s season-opening loss at Seattle. Guard Briann January tied her career high with 23 points, hitting a 3-pointer at the final buzzer. Guard Tiffany Mitchell added 17 points off the bench. The January-Johnson-Mitchell trio scored all 30 points for Indiana in the fourth quarter.

• Center Brittney Griner led the Mercury with 18 points in Saturday’s loss to the Wings. Forward Camille Little was the only other Phoenix player to score in double figures with 11 points. Diana Taurasi, who needs just 67 points to pass retired Fever star Tamika Catchings for second in WNBA history in scoring, went 1-11 from the field and scored three points.

• Taurasi is two rebounds away from being the first player in WNBA history with 7,000 career points, 1,500 career assists, and 1,500 career rebounds.

• With the retirement of Catchings, the hiring of new head coach Pokey Chatman, and the acquisition of Dupree, the Fever underwent a slight roster makeover in the offseason. But while the Fever returned eight core players, the Mercury have welcomed 10 new players to their roster this year.

• With Johnson’s career-high 24 points and January’s 23 points, the Fever had two players score more than 20 points in the same game for the first time since May 17, 2014, when January and Natasha Howard both eclipsed 20 points against Atlanta.

• Dupree is 15th in WNBA history in scoring at 5,115 points. She needs five points to pass Swin Cash in 14th place. On the league’s career rebounding list, Dupree sits in 11th with 2,378 rebounds.

• Larkins is currently ninth in team history with 1,082 points, and needs 31 points to pass Tully Bevilaqua in eighth. She also sits in third place in career rebounds (1,055), approaching Ebony Hoffman (1,115) in second.

• Besides Dupree, the Fever has several ties to Phoenix and the Mercury. Guard Briann January played her college ball at Arizona State, just 15 minutes from Talking Stick Resort Arena. Phoenix guard Shay Murphy played 39 games for the Fever in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Phoenix guard Yvonne Turner played with Fever guard Shenise Johnson for UNIQA Sopron last winter, where the two won a Hungarian League championship. Finally, Larkins and Mercury forward Camille Little were college teammates at North Carolina.

• The Fever are 20-12 all-time against Phoenix, including a 9-6 record in Phoenix. The Fever have won the past two at Talking Stick Resort Arena, and four of the past five overall.

Highlights