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Mercury Makes Unique WNBA Playoff History With 26-Point Win Over Liberty
The Phoenix Mercury were on the brink of elimination from the WNBA playoffs when entering Game 2 of the first round vs. the New York Liberty on Wednesday night. But, the Mercury definitely came and conquered the Liberty in their home arena.
The Mercury captured Game 2 with an 86-60 victory over the Liberty. Phoenix's 26-point gap marks the largest road win in WNBA playoff history when facing elimination, ESPN Insights reported. It's not surprising this huge win would be a historic one, too.
The first quarter remained close, but then Phoenix took as big of a 19-point lead in the second quarter. The Mercury's biggest lead of the night was a whopping 31 points in the second half. Quite a few of the Mercury's bench players saw a lot of action in the second half, which allowed the team's starters to get some well-deserved rest ahead of Game 3.
Mercury's Alyssa Thomas definitely shined in Game 2, scoring 15 points and notching six rebounds and seven assists on top of that.
The next matchup will be a win-or-go-home situation for both the Mercury and the Liberty. New York won Game 1 76-69. Game 3 will take place on Friday in Phoenix.
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Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.