WNBA: Phoenix Mercury look to repeat 2014 final win against Chicago Sky

The Phoenix Mercury squad will be going up against Chicago Sky over the next week to decide who will secure the title WNBA title for the ongoing season. The Arizona team will seek to reverse time and repeat the 2014 win.

The two teams earlier met seven years ago in the finals of the championship in a best of three series and swept the title with the assistance of Diana Taurasi, who was drafted by the team in 2004.

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The two teams will be clashing against each other in the finals for the first time since the WNBA amended the playoff format in 2016, when Phoenix was seeded fifth followed by Chicago in the sixth position.

Both Phoenix Mercury and Chicago Sky played close-call games in the semifinal series to secure their top two spots. Mercury, backed by Taurasi’s 24 points, beat Las Vegas 87-84 on Friday night in Game 5. Chicago took out top-seeded Connecticut in the other semi in four games.

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Chicago decided to fly to Las Vegas on Friday before the finals matchup was set. With a noon local tip on Sunday for Game 1, coach James Wade thought it would be beneficial to the team to already be acclimated to the time difference and not lose a day of preparation on Saturday while traveling.

Phoenix’s side was rattled with a pre-game injury in their semifinal Game 5 clash. Starting guard Kia Nurse tore an ACL, leaving the team relatively weakened for the last leg of the tournament.

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The team was also missing backup Sophie Cunningham with a strained calf. Sandy Brondello said she is hoping Cunningham will be back for some of the Finals.

Phoenix coach Brondello said, “Chicago is playing really good ball, they are peaking at the right time”, according to reports from Associated Press.

He added, “They are playing their best ball at the right time of the season. It’s a big challenge for us, they will be more rested but hopefully, we can make this a good series and have some success and win the championship.