The Mercury Defense is Back on Track

Over the last five games, the Mercury have had the league's best defense. Can they keep it up?

Aug 5, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon (4) drives around Phoenix Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani (8) in the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

In the early parts of the season, the Phoenix Mercury had one of the league's very best defenses, a fine-tuned unit that pressured opponents up and down the floor and forced tons of turnovers, fueling the team's up-tempo offense on the other end.

The defense sprang leaks after the All-Star break as they tried to re-integrate several players who had returned from injury, and they had some troubling performances on that end, with the worst of them coming in a two- game stretch where they gave up a combined 202 points to the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream. Since that loss to Atlanta, though, the Mercury have started to look like their old selves, causing headaches for opposing offenses.

Over the last five games, Phoenix has given up just 72.4 points per game, and that sample includes the 95 points Atlanta dropped on Phoenix on August 1st. In the next matchup between the two teams, the Mercury allowed just 74, a huge turnaround, and it's the only time in their last four games that they've given up more than 67 points.

Phoenix has the best defensive rating in the league over their last five, nearly three points per 100 possessions better than the Dream in second place. They benefitted somewhat from a soft schedule -- they played the Chicago Sky, the Connecticut Sun, and an Indiana Fever team dealing with an injury crisis, but the performance against Atlanta was encouraging, given how the Dream had lit them up the last two times they played.

Defense Shines

Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts watches his team during a game against the Fever at PHX Arena in Phoenix on Aug. 7, 2025. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Much of their return to form begins at the point of attack. Monique Akoa Makani is back to flying over the top of screens and getting into ballhandlers' space and Alyssa Thomas has even spent some time on opposing guards, who struggle to get past her. Despite being one of the smaller teams in the WNBA, Phoenix has given up the second-fewest points in the paint over their last five games, at just 34.4 a night.

It may be difficult to maintain against bigger teams, but the Mercury have the personnel to match up against bigger foes if needed. Natasha Mack moving into the starting lineup already gives them more size than they had for much of the year, and Kalani Brown is available off the bench (though not currently in the rotation) if Phoenix finds themselves at a size disadvantage they deem to be insurmountable.

If Phoenix is going to make a late-season push to improve their playoff seeding, it's going to start on the defensive end, and there are signs that they're on their way to being back to their best.

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