Phoenix Mercury (12-16, 6-10 Western Conference) at New York Liberty (10-18, 8-8 Eastern Conference)
New York; Sunday, 2 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Phoenix takes on the New York Liberty after Diana Taurasi scored 30 points in the Mercury's 90-80 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Liberty are 5-9 on their home court. New York is eighth in the WNBA with 20.5 assists per game. Sabrina Ionescu leads the Liberty averaging 6.2.
The Mercury are 4-11 on the road. Phoenix has a 7-11 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
The teams square off for the second time this season. In the last meeting on July 8 the Mercury won 84-81 led by 23 points from Taurasi, while Ionescu scored 22 points for the Liberty.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ionescu is shooting 35.8% from beyond the arc with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Liberty, while averaging 17.2 points, seven rebounds and 6.2 assists. Natasha Howard is shooting 43.6% and averaging 15.1 points over the past 10 games for New York.
Taurasi is shooting 34.2% from beyond the arc with 3.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Mercury, while averaging 17.5 points and four assists. Skylar Diggins-Smith is averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.7 steals over the past 10 games for Phoenix.
LAST 10 GAMES: Liberty: 2-8, averaging 82.3 points, 32.5 rebounds, 21.7 assists, 6.3 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 91.1 points per game.
Mercury: 6-4, averaging 86.2 points, 31.8 rebounds, 20.6 assists, 9.8 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 84.4 points.
INJURIES: Liberty: Betnijah Laney: out (knee), Jocelyn Willoughby: out (quad).
Mercury: Kia Nurse: out (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
