Phoenix Mercury pull off improbable comeback to escape Mystics

The Phoenix Mercury pulled off an improbable comeback win to advance in the WNBA playoffs and preserve the legend of Diana Taurasi.

As a general rule, Diana Taurasi does not lose when her back is to the wall. But at 38 years old and in her 16th WNBA season, she needed a little help to hold onto the magic.

Taurasi was 13-1 in her career in single-elimination games coming into this matchup with the Washington Mystics but things looked dire at halftime. The Mercury were struggling on offense and trailed by 11. Even with shots falling in the third, they couldn’t close the gap at all and entered the fourth facing the same deficit.

But Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith kept pushing, the shots kept going down, the defense tightened and the margin started dropping. The Mercury put together a 19-3 at the beginning of the fourth quarter and built a four-point lead with just over 90 seconds remaining. But three straight turnovers — an offensive foul and two bad passes trying to get the ball to Taurasi let Washington push back in front.

How did the Phoenix Mercury pull off the game-winning shot?

With 5.8 seconds left, the Mercury had one more chance to pull off the improbable comeback. Taurasi triggered the inbound and never touched the ball again. But it didn’t matter — Diggins-Smith found Shey Peddy in the corner and the rest was history.

It’s a tough loss for the Mystics, the defending champions. They were playing in the bubble without several key players, including reigning MVP Elena Delle Donne, who had opted out of the season for health or advocacy reasons. Veteran point guard Leilani Mitchell was spectacular in this elimination game, putting up 25 points on 8-of-15 from the field. Her closeout on Peddy caused a double-clutch, but it wasn’t enough to force the miss.

The Mercury will take on the No. 4-seeded Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night in another single-elimination game, hoping to pull out another win for Taurasi.