On Thursday night, the impending collision course continued to get set in motion. Earlier in the evening, the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Washington Mystics to take a 2-0 lead. In the second semifinal game of the night, Candace Parker helped lead the L.A. Sparks to a 2-0 lead as well. Minnesota fell to Los Angeles in last year's WNBA Finals making a rematch seem inevitable with a couple more wins. Here's the latest Mercury vs. Sparks recap including top performers, statistics, and when the next games will be.
Game 2 recap
After a Game 1 win, L.A.
followed it up with another at home. Leading the way for Thursday's 86-72 win by the Los Angeles Sparks was All-Star Candace Parker. She finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and three blocks for an all-around effort. Parker shot 9-for-18 from the floor and hit all five free throws she took. Teammate Nneka Ogwumike added 18 points and nine rebounds, while Odyssey Sims had 21 points and five boards in the victory.
The L.A. Sparks opened with a 22-19 lead after one-quarter and were up 43-35 at the half. Phoenix answered back in the third with a 20-18 run, but the home team closed things out with a 25-17 fourth quarter. While Phoenix shot 47.5 percent from the floor, they also were outrebounded 38-28 in the game and had 18 turnovers compared to just 11 for Los Angeles.
The Phoenix Mercury had four of their five starters finish in double digits. Taurasi bounced back from a disappointing Game 1 performance with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting along with four assists and five boards. Brittney Griner had 16 points and five rebounds, while Leilani Mitchell chipped in 15 points and had six boards.
Yvonne Turner was the only other starter in double digits with 10 points.
Next games
Thursday night's win gives the Los Angeles Sparks the 2-0 series lead in this best-of-five semifinals series. The winner moves on to play the winner of the Washington Mystics vs. Minnesota Lynx series in the WNBA Finals. Game 3 of both matchups will take place on Sunday.
For the Sparks, that means the series will shift over to Phoenix for the Mercury to host at least the next game. It's scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday evening with ESPN set to provide live television coverage.
If necessary, the teams will stay in Phoenix for Game 4. That is slated to take place on Tuesday, September 19th at 10 p.m. Eastern Time with ESPN2 providing coverage. A deciding Game 5 would be held in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 21st at 10 p.m. ET, if necessary.