3 Mercury players reach milestones, officiating slammed in loss to Liberty

For every collective or individual high by the Mercury this season, there’s a low.

Three of Phoenix Mercury’s top players reached career milestones during the second quarter against the New York Liberty (26-5) on Monday.

But those achievements by Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, and Natasha Cloud were overshadowed by the Mercury’s season-high 22 turnovers, which gave up 28 points of them, and the 4-to-16 free-throw disparity in Phoenix’s 84-70 home loss to the WNBA’s top team.

The Mercury offense looked disjointed late in the first quarter, scoring just nine points for the second-lowest opening-period output. They posted a season-worst six points in their road loss at Atlanta last Wednesday.

The Mercury (16-15) fell back to one game above. 500 to begin their five-game homestand after beating Atlanta in their rematch on Friday.

Phoenix has been in the middle of the league’s pack at sixth all season, but Cloud pointed out how they’re at the top in penalties for barking at the officials.

“Everyone wants to know why Phoenix Mercury has the most techs in the league. It’s because the games aren’t being called equally on both ends of the floor,” Cloud said after the game.

Taurasi (10 points, six assists) rose to fourth on the league’s all-time assist list, passing Hall of Famer Lindsey Whalen’s 2,348 assists, and is now behind Sue Bird (3,234), Liberty starting point guard Courtney Vandersloot (2,805) and Ticha Penicheiro (2,600).

Griner’s first of two blocks against New York was her 800th career block as she sent back the reigning MVP Breanna Stewart’s shot. She got her 801st on a rejected layup attempt by Jonquel Jones entering the half’s final minute. Griner’s now third all-time in blocks behind Lisa Leslie (822) and the No. 1 Margo Dydek (877).

“She does it year after year,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said about Griner. “Tonight was tough for her because Jones can shoot it but then we’re asking her to be at the rim. She had a couple big-time blocks. We need that rim protection from her.”

Cloud (18 points, 7-of-13 shooting, 4-of-6 from 3, game-high seven assists, one steal) had one of her best shooting performances this season. It broke Taurasi’s single-season Mercury record of 197 assists shortly after Taurasi became an all-time league leader.

“She’s a pass-first point guard. We’ve got great shooters around her,” Tibbetts said about Cloud. “We didn’t make them tonight but I’m happy for her. Credit to her for the great players and the history that is here for her to come in for her first year and set a season record is pretty impressive.”

Tibbetts referred to the Mercury’s menial 22.7% from 3 compared to the Liberty’s 41.4%. However, the Mercury hit 46.3% on all their shots.

The 10-year veteran and St. Joseph’s product, Cloud came to Phoenix as a free agent this offseason.

“As a mid-major kid, I’ll always be really proud of my growth in this league, being an underdog my entire career, and still not necessarily getting the respect I deserve as a point guard in this league, but that s–t don’t mean anything when we’re not winning,” Cloud said.

Griner and Cloud scowled at the final box score statistics’ team free-throw attempts during their postgame media availability.

That prompted Cloud to explain that the Mercury are frequently handed technical fouls.

Taurasi, Cloud, Griner, and the Mercury’s leading scorer this season Kahleah Copper are in top 10. Taurasi and Griner are tied for the league-high six. Copper’s tied with Las Vegas Aces’ Kelsey Plum and Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark on five. Griner has four.

Players who get their seventh technical foul during the regular season are automatically handed a one-game suspension. Every other tech drawn thereafter (ninth, 11th, 13th, etc.) garners a one-game suspension, and that gets reset in the playoffs.

“Every single night we’re having to fight, because we’re bringing the best product that we can on the floor and we’re not being rewarded for it,” Cloud said. “To only shoot four free throws in a 40-minute game is insane. For their starters to have no fouls except for (Leonie) Fiebich is insane in a 40-minute game.

“So whatever happens happens, but it needs to be addressed and this isn’t the first time we’re talking about it, and we’re not the first team to talk about it. We’re not the first players to talk about it, and at some point, the W has to be serious about this.”

Cloud added, “We can’t keep playing five-on-eight,” meaning the Mercury against their opponent on the court and the three-person officiating crew.

The Mercury were called for 15 total fouls; the Liberty had 10. There were 11 by the Mercury’s starters and six from the Liberty’s starters, including Fiebich with four. Vandersloot and Jones got one each.

Griner held herself accountable for her game-high seven turnovers despite the frustration with the officials. Cloud had the game’s second-most six. The Liberty snared 12 steals.

“We’re gonna take it back to the drawing board,” Griner said. “We’re gonna lock in. We’re gonna look at film, figure it out. I’m complaining about fouls and not getting them, but I can’t have seven turnovers because that just hurts the team, so there’s definitely things we can clean up, and we will for the next game.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 3 Mercury players get milestones, slam officiating in loss to Liberty