Mercury Still Looking to Return to Their Peak on Offense

While the Mercury are rounding back into form on defense, the offense still hasn't the level they showed in the first half of the season.

Aug 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury guard Sami Whitcomb (33) celebrates a three post shot against the Indiana Fever during WNBA game at PHX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In late June, the Phoenix Mercury set scoreboards ablaze during a dazzling two-game stretch, dropping 107 points in Chicago against the Sky and welcoming the defending champion New York Liberty to the desert and hanging 106 on their heads.

Phoenix had their three stars, Satou Sabally, Alyssa Thomas, and Kahleah Copper healthy for those two games and their versatile offensive attack looked unstoppable. Now, the Mercury offense sits at sixth in the league, in the middle of the pack, and they've scored fewer than 80 points in 7 of their last 12 games.

Their offensive efficiency has dipped since the All-Star break, with the team's offense sometimes looking stagnant, a result of the team looking to adjust to finally playing with their full lineup available. Phoenix has played at the second-fastest pace in the league for the season, but are just seventh in pace over the last 10 games.

Some of that stems from defensive issues that have cropped up since the break -- you can't get out on the break consistently without getting stops first, after all -- but they've actually been even slower (10th in pace) over their last five games, a run of games where they've had the league's best defense.

Mercury's Offensive Hurdles

Mercury guard Alyssa Thomas (25) drives against Fever forward Aliyah Boston (7) at PHX Arena in Phoenix on Aug. 7, 2025. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of the best features of the Mercury offense this year has been their ability to collapse defenses by attacking the paint in transition and spraying the ball to open shooters. Over the first half of the season, they generated a greater share of their points from three than any other team. They've since fallen to fifth for the season.

That stagnation on offense means tougher shots later in the shot clock, and it's affected their three-point shooting, which has gone cold lately.

Over their last 10 games, the Mercury are hitting just 29.9% of their threes, the lowest mark in the entire league, and they're just ninth in three-point attempts per game, a far cry from their early-season play. In the aforementioned two-game stretch against the Sky and Liberty in June, Phoenix hit a combined 35 threes, the same amount they've hit over their last five games.

There have been encouraging performances, though. They shot well from the field in recent wins over Chicago and the Connecticut Sun and they put up 95 points against the Indiana Fever. But this Mercury team won't be their best, most dangerous selves unless they can rev up their lethal transition attack, speed up their halfcourt sets, and bomb away from deep.

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