The Phoenix Mercury ended off their Tuesday night matchup against the Chicago Sky in style, securing a 84-83 win following a half-court buzzer beater by Kia Nurse.
The Phoenix Mercury have won their last two games, improving to 2-1 without Diana Taurasi in the lineup (4-3 overall). Meanwhile, the Chicago Sky, who have been without Candace Parker since their season opener, now drop to 2-5 and have lost their past five games.
Each member of the Mercury starting five scored in double figures, led by Skylar Diggins-Smith with 24 points. She also added five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Kia Nurse finished 18 points, connecting on five three-pointers while securing eight rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Britney Griner recorded 13 points and seven rebounds while Brianna Turner posted 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Diamond DeShields led the Sky with 26 points, four rebounds and four steals followed by Courtney Vandersloot who recorded a double-double with 17 points, 10 assists and five steals. Ruthy Hebard posted 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Phoenix Mercury started off the game hot scoring eight unanswered points in the first 1:12 of the matchup. After pushing their lead to 14-4, the Sky responded by going on a 11-1 scoring run to tie the game up with 2:29 remaining. The Mercury scored the last six points of the quarter to end the opening period up 21-15.
After the Phoenix Mercury scored the first points of the second quarter, the Sky went on to take their first lead of the game going on a 11-3 run to take a brief 26-25 lead. Both teams would trade the lead over the next few minutes before the Mercury took hold of the momentum going on a 18-5 run in the final five minutes of the first half.
After taking a game-high 13-point lead to begin the second half, the Sky went on a 17-4 run to tie the game up 53-53 with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter. The third quarter would end with the game tied 61-61.
It was in the fourth quarter the Sky looked to pull away taking a 10-point lead, their largest lead of the game, with 3:37 remaining. From there, however, the Mercury ended the game on a 14-3 run including the Kia Nurse half court game-winner.