When a Western team has a good record in the NBA, they can usually be counted on to stumble a bit on the road in the East, but the Mercury are going nuts in the WNBA East. In three road games against the East, Phoenix is averaging 94 points and a differential of +9 while shooting 47 percent. Diana Taurasi shot 24-of-47 in those games.
Assuming Connecticut loses in Indiana, a win for Atlanta would move them to within one game of second place, and home court advantage in the playoff semifinal. That’s incredible for a team that lost 30 games a year ago.
But Atlanta gives up a lot of baskets — their last three opponents shot 45 percent inside the arc, 33 percent outside. The 33.3 percent figure is skewed — Minnesota shot 13-of-26 on treys at Phillips Arena, while Detroit and Washington shot 5-of-28. On the first two games in Phoenix’s Eastern road swing, the Mercury shot identical 7-for-19s in New York and Connecticut (Taurasi 7-of-15).
