PHOENIX – Myisha Hines-Allen is typically one of the most jovial players on the Washington Mystics roster, always sporting a smile and cracking jokes. Thursday night painted a different picture as she had to be physically restrained after an encounter with Phoenix Mercury forward Sophie Cunningham.
Mystics lose composure after blazing start in heated loss to Mercury
“I thought a couple of people, I’m not going to name names, just when all that stuff started,” Mystics Coach Mike Thibault said before trailing off. “There’s a history. There are Phoenix players who understand that that’s part of getting under people’s skin in pro basketball. I thought we let it affect us a little bit tonight.”
The fans inside Footprint Center roared late in the second quarter after Natasha Cloud had to pull Hines-Allen to the opposite end of the court. She had closed out on a Cunningham three-point attempt and there was some contact, but no whistle. Cunningham, who has a reputation around the league as an irritant, fell to the floor, and Hines-Allen stepped over her in a moment reminiscent of the infamous Allen Iverson-Ty Lue snapshot from the 2001 NBA Finals. The Mercury forward gave Hines-Allen a shove from the ground and the two were face-to-face seconds later, vocalizing their displeasure. Both were given technical fouls.
“Yeah, we don’t want to play into their antics,” Hines-Allen said. “But I don’t think that’s what caused us to spiral downhill.”
The Mystics were up by eight at the time in a game that had already featured a high level of physicality from both sides. Ariel Atkins went to the locker room and came back in the first quarter after she took a forearm from Diana Taurasi and hit her head while crashing to the hardwood. Mercury forward Diamond DeShields went down in the first quarter after contact, limped off the court and never returned. Mercury Coach Vanessa Nygaard was issued a technical foul in the second quarter and Cloud was hit with a flagrant 1 for shoving Skyler Diggins-Smith in the third quarter. Elena Delle Donne and Diggins-Smith were called for technical fouls late in the fourth quarter.
All of the extracurriculars seemed to throw the Mystics off as their 15-point first-quarter advantage shrank to just two (60-58) at the break.
The Mystics did not respond well to the chaos and struggled to hit open shots against Phoenix’s zone. The second half was more a testament to which team could keeps its poise, and Phoenix simply made more plays as Washington totaled just 30 points after the break.
Hines-Allen thought the Mystics were hesitant against the zone and didn’t play like themselves defensively after the first quarter.
“I think we could have been more aggressive,” Atkins said. “I think we allowed [the zone] to let us get a little lazy and lackadaisical. We just didn’t have the same aggression.
“I don’t think they got under our skin, to be honest with you. That’s just the way that they are. That’s the way they play. Some calls probably should have been made. Some calls probably weren’t. It is what it is.”
Neither team played well offensively as the physicality led to a choppy game full of fouls and long stoppages for video review. The Mercury, however, leaned on Taurasi and Diggins-Smith and made enough plays in the fourth quarter to pull out a win.
Taurasi posted 29 points, seven rebounds and two assists while Diggins-Smith tallied 24 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Diggins-Smith hit a pull-up three-pointer with 42.7 seconds remaining to provide Phoenix with a seven-point cushion at 77-70.
Delle Donne finished with 19 points and a season-high 12 rebounds to notch her second double-double of the season. Atkins contributed 14 points.
The Mystics hit just 14 of 51 attempts from the field after the first quarter and Thibault was frustrated that Delle Donne didn’t get more touches in the fourth quarter.
“That’s going to be like the playoffs,” Thibault said. “Physical and chippy and all of that. We said to our players early on, you can’t do this game with them. That’s not what you want. Just play.
“If it were me, I would love to get some of those looks. We scored 40-something in the first half and 30 in the second. It’s that simple.”
The Mercury brought attention to Brittney Griner’s illegal detainment in Russia with several moments during the game dedicated to her charity and keeping her situation in the forefront of everyone’s thoughts.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it’s been 147 days since BG was wrongfully imprisoned,” Nygaard said before the game. “And that is crazy to me. I can remember 100. They made a big deal about 100. … One hundred forty-seven days is a long time. We have to continue to honor BG.”
Source: WP
