2017 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2017 WNBA season was the 21st season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season began on May 14.^[1]

2017 Phoenix Mercury season
Coach	Sandy Brondello
Arena	Talking Stick Resort Arena
Attendance	9,912 per game per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost in Semifinals to Los Angeles
Team Leaders
Points	Brittney Griner 20.2 ppg
Rebounds	Griner 7.0 rpg
Assists	Diana Taurasi & Leilani Mitchell 3.8 apg
Media
Television	FS Arizona (FS-A)
← 2016 season 2018 season →

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2017 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
3	29	Alexis Prince	United States	Baylor

Roster

2017 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 23 George, Cayla 6' 4" (1.93m) 192 lb (87kg) 1987-04-20 Georgia 1 F/C 0 Robinson, Angel 6' 6" (1.98m) 193 lb (88kg) 1987-04-20 Georgia 1 C 42 Griner, Brittney 6' 9" (2.06m) 205 lb (93kg) 1990-10-18 Baylor 5 F 20 Little, Camille 6' 2" (1.88m) 180 lb (82kg) 1985-01-18 North Carolina 11 G 11 Robinson, Danielle 5' 9" (1.75m) 125 lb (57kg) 1989-05-10 Oklahoma 7 G 5 Mitchell, Leilani 5' 5" (1.65m) 128 lb (58kg) 1985-06-15 Utah 9 G 3 Taurasi, Diana 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 1982-06-11 Connecticut 13 G 8 Talbot, Stephanie 6' 1" (1.85m) 191 lb (87kg) 1990-12-20 Australia R G 6 Turner, Yvonne 5' 9" (1.75m) 131 lb (59kg) 1987-10-13 Nebraska 2 F 10 Cannon, Emma 6' 2" (1.88m) 190 lb (86kg) 1989-06-01 Central Florida R G/F 25 Currie, Monique 6' 0" (1.83m) 176 lb (80kg) 1983-02-25 Duke 11	Head coach Sandy Brondello (Western Sydney) Assistant coaches Julie Hairgrove (Arizona) Todd Troxel (Doane) Athletic trainer Tamara Poole (Cal State Dominguez Hills) Strength and conditioning coach Kristine Foltz (Iowa State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Preseason

2017 pre-season game log
May: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 3 Seattle L 64–86 Prince (12) Cannon (6) Spencer (5) KeyArena 4,128 0–1 2 May 7 Seattle W 72–55 2 Tied (16) George (6) Mitchell (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 4,088 1–1
2017 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2017 game log Total: 18–16 (Home: 9–8; Road: 9–8)
May: 3–2 (Home: 2–2; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 14 Dallas L 58–68 Griner (18) 2 Tied (5) D. Robinson (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,640 0–1 2 May 17 Indiana W 85–62 Griner (32) Griner (10) Mitchell (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,896 1–1 3 May 19 San Antonio W 78–72 Griner (20) Griner (13) D. Robinson (5) AT&T Center 6,400 2–1 4 May 23 New York L 67–69 Griner (19) Griner (6) 2 Tied (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 7,886 2–2 5 May 27 Dallas W 107–65 Taurasi (18) Cannon (8) D. Robinson (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,245 3–2
June : 4–4 (Home: 1–2; Road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 June 1 Chicago W 99–91 Taurasi (37) Griner (13) D. Robinson (6) Allstate Arena 4,634 4–2 7 June 4 New York L 72–88 Griner (26) George (5) Griner (4) Madison Square Garden 7,831 4–3 8 June 7 Indiana W 98–90 Griner (38) Griner (9) Mitchell (7) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,702 5–3 9 June 10 Los Angeles L 87–89 Taurasi (27) Griner (9) Griner (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,223 5–4 10 June 16 Chicago W 86–78 Griner (27) Griner (9) Taurasi (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,249 6–4 11 June 18 Los Angeles L 59–90 Taurasi (19) Mitchell (7) Mitchell (5) Staples Center 9,916 6–5 12 June 23 Seattle W 85–82 2 Tied (25) Griner (9) Taurasi (4) KeyArena 7,796 7–5 13 June 30 Minnesota L 83–91 Little (16) A. Robinson (8) D. Robinson (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,330 7–6
July : 6–4 (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 14 July 5 Washington W 88–80 Griner (30) Griner (14) Taurasi (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 7,440 8–6 15 July 7 San Antonio W 92–77 Taurasi (17) Griner (8) 3 Tied (5) AT&T Center 8,232 9–6 16 July 9 New York W 81–69 Griner (31) Griner (13) D. Robinson (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,413 10–6 17 July 12 Atlanta W 89–84 Griner (28) Little (12) Little (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,342 11–6 18 July 14 Minnesota L 71–88 Griner (15) Mitchell (5) Talbot (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,493 11–7 19 July 16 Minnesota L 66–81 Turner (18) 3 Tied (6) Mitchell (4) Xcel Energy Center 10,022 11–8 20 July 19 Indiana L 77–84 Taurasi (34) A. Robinson (8) Little (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,371 11–9 21 July 25 Atlanta L 91–99 Taurasi (31) A. Robinson (9) D. Robinson (8) McCamish Pavilion 4,053 11–10 22 July 28 Chicago W 86–80 Little (19) George (14) Mitchell (5) Allstate Arena 6,088 12–10 23 July 30 San Antonio W 81–64 Currie (20) 2 Tied (6) D. Robinson (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,108 13–10
August : 3–6 (Home: 0–2; Road: 3–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 24 August 4 Connecticut L 92–93 Taurasi (33) 3 Tied (5) Mitchell (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,331 13–11 25 August 6 Washington L80–85 Taurasi (16) Currie (8) 2 Tied (5) Verizon Center 7,414 13–12 26 August 10 Dallas W 101–100 Currie (29) Cannon (9) 2 Tied (7) College Park Center 4,165 14–12 27 August 12 Seattle L 89–98 Taurasi (20) Cannon (9) Taurasi (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,797 14–13 28 August 18 Washington W 89–79 Taurasi (25) Griner (10) 3 Tied (4) Capital One Arena 7,208 15–13 29 August 20 Connecticut L 66–94 Griner (18) Griner (6) Mitchell (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,353 15–14 30 August 22 Minnesota L 69–105 Currie (14) Little (5) Turner (4) Xcel Energy Center 10,723 15–15 31 August 24 Los Angeles L 67–82 Griner (18) Griner (6) Mitchell (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,890 15–16 32 August 27 Seattle W 75–71 Griner (29) 2 Tied (8) Currie (7) Key Arena 13,882 16–16
September : 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 33 September 1 Connecticut W 86–66 Griner (31) 2 Tied (8) Griner (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,971 17–16 34 September 3 Atlanta W 84–70 Griner (30) Cannon (10) 3 Tied (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,222 18–16
2017 season schedule

Playoffs

2017 playoff game log Total: 2–3(Home: 1–1; Road: 1–2)
First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 6 Seattle W 79–69 Griner (23) Griner (11) 3 Tied (3) Wells Fargo Arena 5,764 1–0
Second Round: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 10 Connecticut W 88–83 Griner (26) Griner (9) Mitchell (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,420 1–0
WNBA Semifinals: 0–3 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 12 Los Angeles L 66–79 Mitchell (19) Little (11) Mitchell (4) Staples Center 7,963 0–1 2 September 14 Los Angeles L 72–86 Taurasi (32) Mitchell (6) Taurasi (4) Walter Pyramid 4,023 0–2 3 September 17 Los Angeles L 87–89 Taurasi (22) 2 Tied (8) 2 Tied (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 12,043 0–3
2017 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Minnesota Lynx - (1)	27	7	.794	–	15–2	12–5	13–3
2	Los Angeles Sparks - (2)	26	8	.765	1	16–1	10–7	12–4
3	Phoenix Mercury - (5)	18	16	.529	9	9–8	9–8	7–9
4	Dallas Wings - (7)	16	18	.471	11	10–7	6–11	7–9
5	Seattle Storm - (8)	15	19	.441	12	10–7	5–12	8–8
6	San Antonio Stars - e	8	26	.235	19	6–11	2–15	1–15

Playoffs

	First round Single elimination (Sept. 6)					Second round Single elimination (Sept. 10)					Semifinals Best-of-5 (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17)					WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4)
											2	Los Angeles Sparks	3
						4	Connecticut Sun	83			5	Phoenix Mercury	0
	5	Phoenix Mercury	79			5	Phoenix Mercury	88								1	Minnesota Lynx	3
	8	Seattle Storm	69													2	Los Angeles Sparks	2
											1	Minnesota Lynx	3
						3	New York Liberty	68			6	Washington Mystics	0
	6	Washington Mystics	86			6	Washington Mystics	82
	7	Dallas Wings	76

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

• Bold – Game or series winner
• Italic – Team with home-court advantage

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Diana Taurasi	Player of the Week	June 4, 2017	[2]
Brittney Griner	Player of the Week	July 10, 2017	[3]
	Player of the Week	September 5, 2017	[4]

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Brittney Griner	26	26	31.5	57.7%	—	81.2%	7.6	1.9	0.7	2.5	21.9
Diana Taurasi	31	31	28.5	40.0%	38.4%	91.2%	3.0	2.7	0.5	0.3	17.9
Monique Currie	22	7	20.9	42.4%	42.4%	82.4%	3.0	2.2	0.8	0.3	10.2
Leilani Mitchell	34	7	21.4	38.9%	36.0%	82.4%	2.4	3.6	0.9	0.3	8.0
Camille Little	34	34	25.4	41.9%	22.4%	60.7%	3.8	1.4	0.9	0.4	7.1
Danielle Robinson	32	29	23.5	43.2%	0.0%	84.6%	2.9	3.4	1.1	0.2	6.9
Yvonne Turner	34	4	12.8	41.0%	24.1%	76.3%	1.0	1.1	0.6	0.0	5.1
Stephanie Talbot	34	24	17.9	41.5%	38.1%	65.2%	2.7	1.6	0.7	0.3	4.4
Emma Cannon	34	0	12.9	49.1%	0.0%	58.7%	3.6	0.3	0.1	0.1	4.4
Angel Robinson	15	8	15.8	56.8%	100%	100%	3.9	0.5	0.1	0.7	3.9
Cayla George	32	0	11.9	37.6%	28.3%	64.3%	2.7	0.5	0.3	0.4	3.3
Shay Murphy	9	0	14.1	33.3%	18.8%	66.7%	2.4	0.8	0.7	0.0	3.2
Alexis Prince	18	0	7.2	34.1%	31.3%	100%	1.0	0.4	0.2	0.2	1.9
Sophie Brunner	3	0	4.3	0.0%	—	—	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0