Wings face Mercury without key starter
Dallas outrebounded the Phoenix Mercury by 24 in their first meeting of the season, but the Wings head into Saturday night's rematch without starter Courtney Paris.
The 6-foot-4 center suffered a knee injury in a victory over San Antonio on Thursday night and is expected to be out six to eight weeks. Paris, who led the league in rebounding in 2014 and 2015, is averaging 5.0 points and 4.3 rebounds this season.
She had seven rebounds in a season-opening 68-58 victory in Phoenix, where the Wings had a 41-17 edge on the glass and did not allow the Mercury to grab an offensive rebound.
The teams meet again Saturday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena, and veteran Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi will be chasing history.
Taurasi, who served a one-game suspension Tuesday night after being called for a flagrant foul-2 in the previous game, is three 3-pointers from becoming the WNBA's career leader. She has 904, two behind Katie Smith.
Taurasi, in her 13th season in the WNBA, is 145 points shy of becoming the league's all-time leading scorer, too.
"A little stagnant," Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said of the offense without Taurasi in a 69-67 home loss to the New York Liberty.
"I think we became a little too quick-hitting and not enough movement. But that's not just Diana and her absence, but the team getting used to playing with each other."
Dallas (2-1) is likely to go with Theresa Plaisance at center, with rookies Evelyn Akhator and Breanna Lewis also seeing more time in the frontcourt rotation.
The Mercury (2-2) have one of the league's top centers in Brittney Griner, who is averaging 22.3 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 62.7 percent from the field. She had just two rebounds in the first meeting against Dallas, as Wings forward Glory Johnson pulled down 14 rebounds.
Johnson is 12 rebounds from 1,000 for her career.
Phoenix is trying to find its 3-point touch, making just 23.9 percent. Taurasi is 4 of 18 from behind the arc.
But the only team shooting worse from 3-point range than the Mercury are the Wings, who are at 21.4 percent.
Dallas rookie guard Kaela Davis scored 20 points in the teams' first meeting, and she is third on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game.
Fellow first-rounder Allisha Gray, a guard, is averaging 14.3 points, and point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith leads the way at 15.3.
Diggins-Smith fueled a 33-11 fourth-quarter run in a 94-82 win at San Antonio on Thursday, scoring nine of her 17 points during that stretch.
"I think someone blocked her shot earlier and she didn't like that, so that really upped her game," Dallas coach Fred Williams said, according to the San Antonio Express-News. "She really went after it and played hard. That's the type of player she is."
Dallas outrebounded the Phoenix Mercury by 24 in their first meeting of the season, but the Wings head into Saturday night's rematch without starter Courtney Paris.
The 6-foot-4 center suffered a knee injury in a victory over San Antonio on Thursday night and is expected to be out six to eight weeks. Paris, who led the league in rebounding in 2014 and 2015, is averaging 5.0 points and 4.3 rebounds this season.
She had seven rebounds in a season-opening 68-58 victory in Phoenix, where the Wings had a 41-17 edge on the glass and did not allow the Mercury to grab an offensive rebound.
The teams meet again Saturday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena, and veteran Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi will be chasing history.
Taurasi, who served a one-game suspension Tuesday night after being called for a flagrant foul-2 in the previous game, is three 3-pointers from becoming the WNBA's career leader. She has 904, two behind Katie Smith.
Taurasi, in her 13th season in the WNBA, is 145 points shy of becoming the league's all-time leading scorer, too.
"A little stagnant," Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said of the offense without Taurasi in a 69-67 home loss to the New York Liberty.
"I think we became a little too quick-hitting and not enough movement. But that's not just Diana and her absence, but the team getting used to playing with each other."
Dallas (2-1) is likely to go with Theresa Plaisance at center, with rookies Evelyn Akhator and Breanna Lewis also seeing more time in the frontcourt rotation.
The Mercury (2-2) have one of the league's top centers in Brittney Griner, who is averaging 22.3 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 62.7 percent from the field. She had just two rebounds in the first meeting against Dallas, as Wings forward Glory Johnson pulled down 14 rebounds.
Johnson is 12 rebounds from 1,000 for her career.
Phoenix is trying to find its 3-point touch, making just 23.9 percent. Taurasi is 4 of 18 from behind the arc.
But the only team shooting worse from 3-point range than the Mercury are the Wings, who are at 21.4 percent.
Dallas rookie guard Kaela Davis scored 20 points in the teams' first meeting, and she is third on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game.
Fellow first-rounder Allisha Gray, a guard, is averaging 14.3 points, and point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith leads the way at 15.3.
Diggins-Smith fueled a 33-11 fourth-quarter run in a 94-82 win at San Antonio on Thursday, scoring nine of her 17 points during that stretch.
"I think someone blocked her shot earlier and she didn't like that, so that really upped her game," Dallas coach Fred Williams said, according to the San Antonio Express-News. "She really went after it and played hard. That's the type of player she is."
