# 2022 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2022 WNBA season was the 25th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, against the Las Vegas Aces and ended in the 1st round of the WNBA Playoffs against the same team. The season was marred by a number of issues, including injuries and the absence of Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drug charges.
On December 6, 2021, the Mercury announced that they would not be renewing Sandy Brondello's contract and parted ways with her as Head coach. On January 24, 2022, the Mercury announced that Vanessa Nygaard had been hired as Brondello's replacement.
The Mercury got off to a quick start to the season, winning two of their first three games. However, that momentum did not last as they then went on a seven game losing streak. They ended May 2–7. They were able to end their losing streak in June and win four of their first six games that month. However, they lost three and won three of their final six to end the month 7–5. July was another up and down month as the team struggled to build momentum and couldn't build a streak. They finished the month 4–5. Diana Taurasi suffered a quad strain during their game against the Connecticut Sun on August 2. The Mercury announced that she would miss the rest of the regular season with the injury. On August 11, 2022, the Mercury announced that Skylar Diggins-Smith would miss the final 3 games of the season for personal reasons. Despite injuries to two of their prominent players, the Mercury entered the final day of the season with a chance at qualifying for the playoffs. Despite a final day loss and a 2–4 August record, the Mercury finished in eighth place in the standings and qualified for the final playoff spot.
The Mercury faced first seed Las Vegas in First Round of the playoffs. The first two games of the series were in Las Vegas and the Mercury lost both games, preventing the series from returning to Phoenix. Neither game was close with the Mercury losing by sixteen points in Game One and thirty-seven points in Game Two.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
| 3 | 26 | Maya Dodson | United States | Notre Dame |
| 3 | 32 | Macee Williams | United States | IUPUI |

### Trades and Roster Changes

| Date | Transaction |
| December 6, 2021 | Parted Ways with Head coach Sandy Brondello |
| January 11, 2022 | Extended a Qualifying Offer to Shey Peddy |
| January 13, 2022 | Sign Shey Peddy to a Qualifying Offer |
| January 13, 2022 | Waived Megan Walker |
| January 13, 2022 | Extended a Qualifying Offer to Kia Nurse |
| January 24, 2022 | Hired Vanessa Nygaard as Head coach |
| January 31, 2022 | Traded Kia Vaughn to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for a 2023 Third Round Pick |
| February 1, 2022 | Re-Signed Sophie Cunningham to a One-Year Deal |
| February 3, 2022 | Traded Bria Hartley, the 20th Pick in the 2022 WNBA draft, and a 2nd Round Pick in 2023 to the Indiana Fever, as well as a 1st Round Pick in 2023 to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Diamond DeShields from Chicago |
| February 3, 2022 | Signed Jennie Simms to a training-camp contract |
| February 4, 2022 | Signed Tina Charles to a One-Year Deal |
| February 5, 2022 | Signed Kia Nurse to One-Year Deal |
| February 13, 2022 | Signed Leaonna Odom to a training-camp contract |
| March 1, 2022 | Signed Kiana Williams to a training-camp contract |
| March 2, 2022 | Hired Crystal Robinson as an assistant coach |
| March 10, 2022 | Signed Kristine Anigwe to a training-camp contract |
| March 31, 2022 | Hired Nikki Blue and Cinnamon Lister as Assistant Coaches |
| April 12, 2022 | Signed Sam Thomas to a training-camp contract |
| April 13, 2022 | Signed Maya Dodson and Macee Williams to rookie-scale contracts |
| April 13, 2022 | Signed Mael Gilles and Vivian Gray to training-camp contracts |
| April 16, 2022 | Signed Emma Cannon to a training-camp contract |
| April 21, 2022 | Waived Macee Williams |
| April 30, 2022 | Waived Mael Gilles |
| May 3, 2022 | Waived Emma Cannon, Kiana Williams, Jennie Simms, and Vivian Gray |
| May 4, 2022 | Signed Megan Gustafson to a training-camp contract |
| May 5, 2022 | Temporarily Suspend Brianna Turner and Diamond DeShields due to Overseas Commitments |
| May 5, 2022 | Waived Maya Dodson and Leaonna Odom |
| May 6, 2022 | Signed Emma Cannon and Jennie Simms to Hardship Contracts |
| May 10, 2022 | Activated Brianna Turner and Diamond DeShields from their Temporary Suspensions |
| May 10, 2022 | Released Emma Cannon and Jennie Simms from their Hardship Contracts |
| May 14, 2022 | Signed Brianna Turner to a Contract Extension |
| May 25, 2022 | Signed Karlie Samuelson to a Hardship Contract |
| May 30, 2022 | Released Karlie Samuelson from her Hardship Contract |
| June 9, 2022 | Signed Jennie Simms to a Hardship Contract |
| June 23, 2022 | Released Jennie Simms from her Hardship Contract |
| June 24, 2022 | Waived Kristine Anigwe |
| June 25, 2022 | Waived Tina Charles |
| June 28, 2022 | Signed Reshanda Gray and Jennie Simms to 7-day contracts |
| July 4, 2022 | Signed Reshanda Gray and Jennie Simms to their 2nd 7-day contracts |
| July 11, 2022 | Signed Reshanda Gray and Jennie Simms to their 3rd 7-day contracts |
| July 18, 2022 | Signed Reshanda Gray |
| July 18, 2022 | Signed Jennie Simms to a Hardship Contract |
| July 21, 2022 | Signed Kaela Davis to a 7-Day Hardship Contract |
| July 29, 2022 | Signed Kaela Davis to a 2nd 7-Day Hardship Contract |
| August 8, 2022 | Signed Yvonne Turner to a Hardship Contract |
| August 10, 2022 | Temporarily Suspend Skylar Diggins-Smith |
| August 11, 2022 | Signed Kaela Davis to a Hardship Contract |

## Roster
### Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
| C | Brianna Turner | Reshanda Gray Brittney Griner (inactive) |
| PF | Sophie Cunningham | Megan Gustafson |
| SF | Diana Taurasi | Diamond DeShields Sam Thomas |
| SG | Shey Peddy | Jennie Simms Kia Nurse |
| PG | Skylar Diggins-Smith (inactive) | |

## Schedule
### Preseason

2022 pre-season game log Total: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1) :
April: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
April 28
Seattle
L 78–82
Tina Charles (16)
Kristine Anigwe (8)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (8)
Footprint Center 2,759
0–1
2
April 30
@ Los Angeles
L 84–87
Kiana Williams (25)
Kristine Anigwe (11)
Cannon Simms (3)
Matadome N/A
0–2 :
2022 pre-season schedule :

### Regular Season

2022 game log Total: 15–21 (Home: 11–7; Road: 4–14) :
May: 2–7 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–5)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 6
Las Vegas
L 88–106
Skylar Diggins-Smith (25)
Taurasi Simms (4)
Diana Taurasi (9)
Footprint Center 7,167
0–1
2
May 11
Seattle
W 97–77
Tina Charles (22)
Tina Charles (11)
Diggins-Smith Peddy (6)
Footprint Center 6,098
1–1
3
May 14
@ Seattle
W 69–64
Diana Taurasi (24)
Brianna Turner (14)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (5)
Climate Pledge Arena 12,453
2–1
4
May 17
@ Las Vegas
L 74–86
Tina Charles (17)
Tina Charles (9)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (6)
Michelob Ultra Arena 2,536
2–2
5
May 19
Dallas
L 84–94
Diamond DeShields (22)
Tina Charles (11)
Shey Peddy (5)
Footprint Center 6,151
2–3
6
May 21
@ Las Vegas
L 80–100
Diamond DeShields (19)
Brianna Turner (8)
Diana Taurasi (7)
Michelob Ultra Arena 5,572
2–4
7
May 25
@ Los Angeles
L 94–99
Skylar Diggins-Smith (28)
Tina Charles (7)
Diamond DeShields (9)
Crypto.com Arena 4,020
2–5
8
May 29
@ Atlanta
L 54–81
Diamond DeShields (23)
Brianna Turner (8)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (5)
Gateway Center Arena 3,138
2–6
9
May 31
@ Chicago
L 70–73
Tina Charles (25)
Brianna Turner (9)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (8)
Wintrust Arena 5,133
2–7 :
June
: 7–5 (Home: 4–2; Road: 3–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
10
June 3
Connecticut
L 88–92
Diana Taurasi (32)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (6)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (6)
Footprint Center 7,180
2–8
11
June 5
Los Angeles
W 81–74
Skylar Diggins-Smith (29)
Brianna Turner (9)
Diana Taurasi (7)
Footprint Center 10,151
3–8
12
June 10
Atlanta
W 90–88
Diana Taurasi (23)
Brianna Turner (13)
Diana Taurasi (6)
Footprint Center 7,650
4–8
13
June 12
@ Washington
W 99–90 (OT)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (27)
Brianna Turner (10)
Diana Taurasi (7)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,200
5–8
14
June 14
@ Washington
L 65–83
Diamond DeShields (21)
Diamond DeShields (8)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (8)
Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,088
5–9
15
June 15
@ Indiana
W 93–80
Tina Charles (29)
Brianna Turner (10)
Shey Peddy (7)
Indiana Farmers Coliseum 1,824
6–9
16
June 17
@ Dallas
L 88–93
Tina Charles (27)
Tina Charles (9)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (10)
College Park Center 3,140
6–10
17
June 21
Minnesota
L 71–84
Skylar Diggins-Smith (25)
Tina Charles (7)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (6)
Footprint Center 6,394
6–11
18
June 23
@ Minnesota
L 88–100
Tina Charles (26)
Brianna Turner (8)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (5)
Target Center 8,004
6–12
19
June 25
@ Dallas
W 83–72
Skylar Diggins-Smith (26)
Diamond DeShields (10)
Shey Peddy (6)
College Park Center 4,240
7–12
20
June 27
Indiana
W 83–71
Diana Taurasi (27)
Brianna Turner (8)
Shey Peddy (5)
Footprint Center 5,044
8–12
21
June 29
Indiana
W 99–78
Skylar Diggins-Smith (17)
Brianna Turner (11)
Diggins-Smith Taurasi (7)
Footprint Center 5,833
9–12 :
July
: 4–5 (Home: 4–1; Road: 0–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
22
July 2
@ Chicago
L 75–91
Skylar Diggins-Smith (25)
Diamond DeShields (9)
Shey Peddy (6)
Wintrust Arena 8,028
9–13
23
July 4
@ Los Angeles
L 75–78
Skylar Diggins-Smith (22)
Cunningham Peddy (6)
Diana Taurasi (6)
Crypto.com Arena 3,340
9–14
24
July 7
New York
W 84–81
Cunningham Taurasi (23)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (7)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (9)
Footprint Center 6,158
10–14
25
July 12
@ Minnesota
L 107–118 (2OT)
Sophie Cunningham (36)
Shey Peddy (10)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (10)
Target Center 6,503
10–15
26
July 14
Washington
W 80–75
Skylar Diggins-Smith (29)
Cunningham Taurasi (7)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (9)
Footprint Center 5,994
11–15
27
July 17
Atlanta
L 75–85
Diana Taurasi (23)
Sophie Cunningham (9)
Shey Peddy (5)
Footprint Center 7,963
11–16
28
July 22
Seattle
W 94–78
Skylar Diggins-Smith (35)
Peddy Taurasi (7)
Diana Taurasi (7)
Footprint Center 14,162
12–16
29
July 28
Los Angeles
W 90–80
Diana Taurasi (30)
Brianna Turner (7)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (6)
Footprint Center 8,124
13–16
30
July 31
@ New York
L 69–89
Sophie Cunningham (21)
Shey Peddy (12)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (11)
Barclays Center 6,433
13–17 :
August
: 2–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
31
August 2
@ Connecticut
L 63–87
Cunningham Diggins-Smith (15)
Brianna Turner (6)
Diggins-Smith Peddy (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,130
13–18
32
August 4
@ Connecticut
L 64–77
Skylar Diggins-Smith (16)
Brianna Turner (12)
Brianna Turner (7)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,215
13–19
33
August 6
New York
W 76–62
Diamond DeShields (25)
Cunningham DeShields Simms (8)
Brianna Turner (4)
Footprint Center 11,724
14–19
34
August 10
Minnesota
L 77–86
Sophie Cunningham (24)
Shey Peddy (10)
Diamond DeShields (10)
Footprint Center 7,307
14–20
35
August 12
Dallas
W 86–74
Diamond DeShields (24)
Cunningham DeShields Peddy (5)
Shey Peddy (8)
Footprint Center 8,047
15–20
36
August 14
Chicago
L 67–82
Gustafson Simms (12)
Megan Gustafson (10)
Yvonne Turner (4)
Footprint Center 12,383
15–21 :
2022 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2022 playoff game log :
First Round vs. Las Vegas Aces Lost Series: 0–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 18
@ Las Vegas
L 63–79
Diamond DeShields (18)
Brianna Turner (16)
Shey Peddy (5)
Michelob Ultra Arena 8,725
0–1
2
August 21
@ Las Vegas
L 80-117
Kaela Davis (23)
Brianna Turner (7)
B. Turner Simms Davis Gustafson (3)
Michelob Ultra Arena 9,126
0–2 :
2022 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| # | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
| 1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 9–1 |
| 2 | x – Chicago Sky | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 14–4 | 12–6 | 9–1 |
| 3 | x – Connecticut Sun | 25 | 11 | .694 | 1.0 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 5–5 |
| 4 | x – Seattle Storm | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–4 |
| 5 | x – Washington Mystics | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
| 6 | x – Dallas Wings | 18 | 18 | .500 | 8.0 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
| 7 | x – New York Liberty | 16 | 20 | .444 | 10.0 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–4 |
| 8 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 15 | 21 | .417 | 11.0 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 3–7 |
| 9 | e – Minnesota Lynx | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–6 |
| 10 | e – Atlanta Dream | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
| 11 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 13 | 23 | .361 | 13.0 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
| 12 | e – Indiana Fever | 5 | 31 | .139 | 21.0 | 2–16 | 3–15 | 2–16 | 2–8 |
Notes
    (#) – League Standing
    x – Clinched playoff berth
    e – Eliminated from playoff contention
    Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings

## Playoffs

| Round One: Best-of-3 | Round One: Best-of-3 | Round One: Best-of-3 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 |
| 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 2 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 0 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 0 | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Seattle Storm | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Seattle Storm | 2 | 4 | Seattle Storm | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Washington Mystics | 0 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Washington Mystics | 0 | | | | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 |
| | | | | | | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 1 |
| 2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | | | | | | | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 1 |
| 7 | New York Liberty | 1 | | | | | | |
| 7 | New York Liberty | 1 | 2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 3 | | | |
| 3 | Connecticut Sun | 2 | 3 | Connecticut Sun | 3 | | | |
| 6 | Dallas Wings | 1 | | | | | | |
Bold Series winner

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | 30 | 30 | 34.0 | .429 | .296 | .844 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 19.7 |
| Tina Charles$^‡$ | 16 | 16 | 33.1 | .441 | .364 | .800 | 7.3 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 17.3 |
| Diana Taurasi | 31 | 31 | 31.0 | .373 | .337 | .894 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 16.7 |
| Diamond DeShields | 30 | 19 | 25.3 | .388 | .236 | .765 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 13.1 |
| Sophie Cunningham | 28 | 20 | 29.5 | .449 | .400 | .875 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 12.6 |
| Shey Peddy | 34 | 24 | 28.6 | .418 | .329 | .889 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 9.9 |
| Kaela Davis$^≠$ | 5 | 0 | 5.4 | .692 | .667 | .750 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.6 |
| Brianna Turner | 35 | 35 | 33.4 | .607 | .000 | .500 | 6.8 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 4.3 |
| Megan Gustafson | 33 | 0 | 9.6 | .549 | .462 | .765 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 3.8 |
| Jennie Simms$^≠$ | 23 | 4 | 13.2 | .476 | .211 | .789 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| Yvonne Turner$^≠$ | 3 | 0 | 11.7 | .400 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| Karlie Samuelson$^‡$ | 1 | 0 | 10.0 | .333 | .333 | .000 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Emma Cannon$^‡$ | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 1.000 | .000 | .500 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Reshanda Gray$^≠$ | 16 | 0 | 9.5 | .405 | .091 | .333 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
| Kristine Anigwe$^‡$ | 10 | 1 | 6.5 | .500 | .000 | .500 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| Sam Thomas | 24 | 0 | 4.9 | .211 | .067 | 1.000 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Diamond DeShields | 2 | 2 | 27.0 | .432 | .333 | .714 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 19.5 |
| Kaela Davis | 2 | 0 | 23.5 | .483 | .000 | .800 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 16.0 |
| Megan Gustafson | 2 | 0 | 23.5 | .316 | .000 | 1.000 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 9.0 |
| Shey Peddy | 1 | 1 | 26.0 | .231 | .286 | .000 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| Sophie Cunningham | 2 | 2 | 31.0 | .455 | .375 | .333 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| Jennie Simms | 2 | 2 | 24.5 | .267 | .200 | .200 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.5 |
| Brianna Turner | 2 | 2 | 30.0 | .444 | .000 | .000 | 11.5 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 4.0 |
| Reshanda Gray | 2 | 0 | 8.0 | .400 | .000 | .500 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| Yvonne Turner | 2 | 1 | 12.0 | .286 | .000 | .000 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Sam Thomas | 2 | 0 | 7.0 | .500 | .500 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award/Milestone | Date awarded |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | Western Conference Player of the Week | July 18 |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | All-WNBA First Team | September 15 |