Brittney Griner took two hits to the face, one to the eye and an elbow to the mouth leading to a broken tooth. It only raised her game as she delivered body blow after body blow in return with a knockout remaining. Griner finished with 19 points, Diana Taurasi added 18 and the Mercury made it two straight routs in the WNBA Finals with a 97-68 win over the Chicago Sky in Game 2.
The Sky looked better than in Game 1 especially with Elena Delle Donne looking better on both ends of the court. Fighting Phoenix for every inch in the first half, an Allie Quigley lay-up gave the Sky a 27-26 lead with 6:34 to play in second quarter. Moreover both teams were tied at 31. The Mercury dusted their shoulders off as they ended the second quarter on a 20-5 run. The plane back to Chicago was warming up.
Phoenix set a finals record by shooting 58 percent in Game 1 and almost topped it, hitting 56 percent from the floor after missing five shots in the final minute. The Mercury outscored Chicago 52-24 in the paint and had all five starters score in double figures. The Mercury win by 29 points is the largest margin of victory in a finals game in WNBA history.
“We have to stop the bleeding a lot faster and we can’t make as many mental mistakes because they make you pay for them,” Delle Donne said. “We have a lot of things to clean up.”
Delle Donne led the Sky with 22 points after playing 11 minutes in Game 1 due to lower-back pain. Sylvia Fowles especially struggled against Griner for the second straight game. After Griner held Fowles to 5-of-17 shooting when she was Fowles’ primary defender in Game 1, Fowles was 1-of-7 against Griner in Game 2.
Game 3 is Friday in Chicago. A Sky win forces the series to Game 4. If the Mercury win, they celebrate their third WNBA title on Chicago’s home court.
