Kahleah Copper had 22 points with five 3-pointers, Alyssa Thomas tallied 14 points and nine assists, and the host Phoenix Mercury beat the New York Liberty 80-63 to remain ahead of the defending champion Liberty in the fight for home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Satou Sabally had 14 points and three 3-pointers and Natasha Mack collected 10 rebounds for the Mercury, who won the season series and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the fifth-place Liberty.
Emma Meeseman had 17 points, Breanna Stewart had 14 and Natasha Cloud had 13 for the Liberty (24-16), who lost three of four against the Mercury this season.
The Mercury (25-14) pulled into a tie with Atlanta for third place in the league standings. The Dream own the tiebreaker over Phoenix after winning all three meetings this season.
The Mercury blew the game open in the second half, using a 15-1 run to take a 60-49 lead when DeWanna Bonner scored on a layup and a 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
The Liberty went almost six minutes without a field goal until Meesseman’s 3-pointer made it a 60-52 deficit with 8:44 left in the fourth before the Mercury took over. They outscored New York 20-11 the rest of the way as part of a 35-15 run.
The Mercury qualified for the postseason on Friday, when the Los Angeles Sparks lost to the Indiana Fever. The top four teams receive home-court advantage in a best-of-three first-round playoff series that begins on Sept. 14.
The Liberty played without leading scorer Sabrina Ionescu (18.8 points per game), who has missed two straight contests because of a left toe injury.
Each team led by as many as six points in the first half, which ended when Cloud’s jumper gave the Liberty a 39-37 lead. Cloud had 11 points and all of her 3-pointers in the first half.
There were 10 ties and 10 lead changes until the Mercury pulled away in the fourth.
Thomas set a franchise season record with her fifth rebound late in the third quarter, giving her 303.
New York is 8-11 on the road, the worst road record among the nine remaining playoff contenders.
–Field Level Media
