The Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury are both showing signs of getting on track as they meet Saturday night in Phoenix.
The Lynx (6-9), who started the season 0-6, have gone 6-3 since their rough start — winning five of their last seven.
The last-place Mercury (3-11) ended a six-game losing streak by routing the visiting Indiana Fever 85-63 on Thursday in interim head coach Nikki Blue’s second game as the replacement to Vanessa Nygaard, who was fired Sunday.
Brittney Griner led Phoenix with 22 points and helped limit Indiana rookie Aliyah Boston to six points. Boston, who entered the game averaging 16 points per game, had just four points in the first meeting with the Mercury on June 11.
“That was (Griner’s) matchup,” Blue said. “It was a defensive scheme we felt didn’t need a double team.”
Minnesota’s latest victory came when Napheesa Collier made a fadeaway jumper with 1.8 seconds left in overtime to produce a 99-97 victory at Seattle on Thursday.
The victory was the Lynx’s third in their last four games after two wins in three days in Seattle.
The Mercury defeated the Lynx 90-81 on May 25 in Phoenix, which was Minnesota’s third loss in the season-opening losing streak.
