The Phoenix Mercury aren’t sure whether they will have All-Star guard and leading scorer Skylar Diggins-Smith available for their final playoff drive this weekend.
Diggins-Smith missed the past two games — a win over the New York Liberty on Saturday and a loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday.
The team listed her out with a non-COVID illness on Saturday and for personal reasons for the other game.
The Mercury, who already are without guard Diana Taurasi (quad strain) for the stretch run, are battling four other teams for the final two playoff spots. The regular season ends Sunday.
Losers of last season’s WNBA finals to the Chicago Sky, Phoenix hosts the Dallas Wings on Friday and the Sky on Sunday.
Coach Vanessa Nygaard said the team was prepared to proceed without Diggins-Smith.
“We’re just one day at a time moving forward. We’ve seen everything this year, so whatever gets thrown at us, we’re ready to just lace them up and go,” she said, according to ESPN.
“It’s such an honor and a privilege to play this game and we’re so blessed every day that we get to go out and play in front of our great fans. So whoever we have available is going to come out and battle for our team. We still have fight, and we’re going to be ready to go. That’s what our fans deserve.”
The Mercury also are missing Brittney Griner from that 2021 runner-up team. Griner, detained in Russia on drug charges since mid-February, was sentenced last week to nine years in prison.
On the season, Diggins-Smith is averaging 19.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists, which also are a team high. With Taurasi averaging 16.7 points, the Mercury are missing a significant chunk of the 81.4 points per game average.
–Field Level Media