# 2020 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2020 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on July 25, 2020, versus the Los Angeles Sparks.
During the off-season, it was announced that Talking Stick Resort Arena would be undergoing renovations and the Mercury would be forced to play their home games at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the 2020 season.
This WNBA season will feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games. However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.
The Mercury's season got off to a slow start, with the team losing its first two games. However, a four-game win streak followed and the Mercury were 4–2. The Mercury only won two of the next seven games and were just under .500. The team then won its next six games to secure a playoff spot. After losing two of their last three games, they qualified for the playoffs as the fifth overall seed.
As the fifth seed, the Mercury played the Washington Mystics in the First Round of the playoffs. The Mercury won that a nail-biter of a game 85–84, and advanced to the Second Round. They faced off against the fourth seeded Minnesota Lynx and were defeated in another close match, 79–80 to end their season.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 10 | Jocelyn Willoughby | United States | Virginia |
| 2 | 18 | Te'a Cooper | United States | Baylor |
| 3 | 29 | Stella Johnson | United States | Rider |

### Trades/Roster Changes

| Date | Details |
| February 11, 2020 | Traded F DeWanna Bonner to Connecticut in exchange for the 7th and 10th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft in addition to a first-round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft. |
| February 12, 2020 | Traded the 5th and 7th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft in addition to a first-round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft to Dallas in exchange for Skylar Diggins-Smith. |
| February 13, 2020 | Re-signed C Brittney Griner |
| February 13, 2020 | Signed G Bria Hartley |
| February 19, 2020 | Acquired F Jessica Breland and F Nia Coffey in exchange for G Briann January, the 17th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, and the team's second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft |
| February 24, 2020 | Signed C Kia Vaughn |
| April 17, 2020 | Acquired G Shatori Walker-Kimbrough from New York in exchange for the draft rights to G/F Jocelyn Willoughby. |
| July 12, 2020 | F Jessica Breland medically excused for 2020 season. |

## Game log
### Regular season

2020 game log Total: 13–9 :
July
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
July 25
Los Angeles Sparks
L 76–99
Taurasi (16)
Griner (9)
Diggins-Smith (6)
IMG Academy 0
0–1
2
July 29
Indiana Fever
L 100–106
Hartley (26)
Tied (7)
Tied (5)
IMG Academy 0
0–2
3
July 31
Las Vegas Aces
W 102–95
Tied (22)
Turner (9)
Taurasi (10)
IMG Academy 0
1–2 :
August
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
4
August 2
New York Liberty
W 96–67
Hartley (27)
Turner (11)
Taurasi (9)
IMG Academy 0
2–2
5
August 4
Atlanta Dream
W 81–74
Taurasi (20)
Turner (7)
Taurasi (6)
IMG Academy 0
3–2
6
August 6
Chicago Sky
W 96–86
Tied (22)
Griner (8)
Taurasi (6)
IMG Academy 0
4–2
7
August 8
Seattle Storm
L 68–74
Griner (20)
Griner (8)
Taurasi (5)
IMG Academy 0
4–3
8
August 10
Dallas Wings
W 91–79
Diggins-Smith (26)
Griner (13)
Diggins-Smith (7)
IMG Academy 0
5–3
9
August 12
Chicago Sky
L 71–89
Tied (15)
Griner (6)
Diggins-Smith (4)
IMG Academy 0
5–4
10
August 14
Atlanta Dream
W 96–80
Hartley (24)
Griner (8)
Hartley (5)
IMG Academy 0
6–4
11
August 16
Dallas Wings
L 89–95
Griner (29)
Taurasi (9)
Hartley (6)
IMG Academy 0
6–5
12
August 19
Los Angeles Sparks
L 74–83
Taurasi (19)
Turner (7)
Hartley (9)
IMG Academy 0
6–6
13
August 21
Minnesota Lynx
L 80–90
Hartley (24)
Turner (9)
Hartley (5)
IMG Academy 0
6–7
14
August 23
Washington Mystics
W 88–87
Taurasi (34)
Turner (17)
Hartley (5)
IMG Academy 0
7–7
15
August 28
Washington Mystics
W 94–72
Diggins-Smith (24)
Smith (8)
Taurasi (7)
IMG Academy 0
8–7
16
August 30
Minnesota Lynx
W 83–79
Diggins-Smith (25)
Turner (15)
Peddy (5)
IMG Academy 0
9–7 :
September
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17
September 1
Las Vegas Aces
W 92–85
Taurasi (32)
Turner (13)
Tied (7)
IMG Academy 0
10–7
18
September 3
Indiana Fever
W 105–81
Diggins-Smith (28)
Turner (12)
Diggins-Smith (8)
IMG Academy 0
11–7
19
September 5
New York Liberty
W 83–67
Diggins-Smith (30)
Turner (13)
Turner (4)
IMG Academy 0
12–7
20
September 7
Connecticut Sun
L 70–85
Taurasi (19)
Turner (8)
Diggins-Smith (6)
IMG Academy 0
12–8
21
September 9
Connecticut Sun
W 100–95
Diggins-Smith (33)
Turner (21)
Taurasi (7)
IMG Academy 0
13–8
22
September 11
Seattle Storm
L 60–83
Walker-Kimbrough (24)
Turner (11)
Peddy (6)
IMG Academy 0
13–9 :
2020 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2020 playoff game log Total: 1–1 :
First Round
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 15
Washington Mystics
W 85–84
Diggins-Smith (24)
Turner (11)
Taurasi (6)
IMG Academy
1–0 :
Second Round
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 17
Minnesota Lynx
79–80
Taurasi (28)
Turner (14)
Taurasi (9)
IMG Academy
0–1 :
2020 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. |
| 1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 18 | 4 | .818 | – | 8–2 |
| 2 | x – Seattle Storm | 18 | 4 | .818 | – | 8–2 |
| 3 | x – Los Angeles Sparks | 15 | 7 | .682 | 3 | 5–5 |
| 4 | x – Minnesota Lynx | 14 | 8 | .636 | 4 | 4–6 |
| 5 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 13 | 9 | .591 | 5 | 4–6 |
| 6 | x – Chicago Sky | 12 | 10 | .545 | 6 | 6–4 |
| 7 | x – Connecticut Sun | 10 | 12 | .455 | 8 | 7–3 |
| 8 | x – Washington Mystics | 9 | 13 | .409 | 9 | 6–4 |
| 9 | e – Dallas Wings | 8 | 14 | .364 | 10 | 1–9 |
| 10 | e – Atlanta Dream | 7 | 15 | .318 | 11 | 5–5 |
| 11 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 16 | .273 | 12 | 4–6 |
| 12 | e – New York Liberty | 2 | 20 | .091 | 16 | 2–8 |
* v
* t
* e

## Playoffs

| First round: Single elimination (September 15) | First round: Single elimination (September 15) | First round: Single elimination (September 15) | Second round: Single elimination (September 17) | Second round: Single elimination (September 17) | Second round: Single elimination (September 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11) |
| | | | | | | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 62 | 83 | 68 | 84 | 66 | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Minnesota Lynx | 80 | 7 | Connecticut Sun | 87 | 75 | 77 | 75 | 63 | | | | | |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 85 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | | | | | | | | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 80 | 91 | 59 |
| 8 | Washington Mystics | 84 | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Seattle Storm | 93 | 104 | 92 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Seattle Storm | Seattle Storm | Seattle Storm | 88 | 89 | 92 | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 59 | 4 | Minnesota Lynx | Minnesota Lynx | Minnesota Lynx | 86 | 79 | 71 | | | | | |
| 6 | Chicago Sky | 81 | 7 | Connecticut Sun | 73 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Connecticut Sun | 94 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

## Statistics
### Regular season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Diana Taurasi | 19 | 19 | 28.1 | 40.9 | 36.5 | 91.2 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 18.7 |
| Brittney Griner | 12 | 12 | 31.8 | 49.7 | 0 | 80.9 | 7.5 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 17.7 |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | 22 | 22 | 30.7 | 47.4 | 39.7 | 90.0 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 17.7 |
| Bria Hartley | 13 | 3 | 24.8 | 42.0 | 38.5 | 80.5 | 2.9 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 0 | 14.6 |
| Shatori Walker-Kimbrough | 21 | 10 | 19.0 | 42.9 | 43.1 | 92.0 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 7.3 |
| Brianna Turner | 22 | 22 | 27.9 | 57.9 | 0 | 64.3 | 9.0 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 7.2 |
| Kia Vaughn | 22 | 10 | 18.9 | 48.8 | 0 | 57.9 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 6.1 |
| Alanna Smith | 19 | 0 | 15.6 | 42.2 | 23.3 | 69.0 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 6.1 |
| Sophie Cunningham | 21 | 11 | 18.9 | 38.5 | 23.5 | 88.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 5.0 |
| Shey Peddy | 8 | 0 | 17.6 | 29.4 | 10.5 | 100 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| Alisia Jenkins | 2 | 0 | 11.5 | 25.0 | 0 | 66.7 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Nia Coffey | 15 | 1 | 15.3 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 16.7 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.7 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | September 8, 2020 |
| Brianna Turner | 1st Team All-Defense | September 29, 2020 |
| Diana Taurasi | All-WNBA Second Team | October 4, 2020 |
| Skylar Diggins-Smith | All-WNBA Second Team | October 4, 2020 |