The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season began on May 14, on the road against the Minnesota Lynx. The Mercury began the season with four straight losses. They lost their opening night game 95âÂÂ76 and followed that with a four-point loss to Indiana and a one-point loss at home against Seattle. They broke the streak with a 93âÂÂ77 win against Washington. They finished the month with another win to end with a 2âÂÂ4 record. They began June with two road losses, which they followed with home wins against San Antonio and Chicago. They could not build momentum off those wins as they lost their next game on the road 77âÂÂ71 against Los Angeles. They then lost two straight, one at home and one away, against Dallas, including a 117âÂÂ111 overtime home loss. They followed that with two road wins, including an overtime victory over New York, and finished the month with a home win over Connecticut. The team finished 5âÂÂ5 in June. The Mercury lost four of their first five games of July, with their only win coming on the road against Atlanta. They finished the month 2âÂÂ1 with defeats of Washington and San Antonio. They went into the Olympic break with a 79âÂÂ77 loss against Chicago. They went 3âÂÂ5 in July and had a 10âÂÂ14 record going into the Olympic break. The team came back from the break and went 3âÂÂ0 in August, defeating Dallas, Los Angeles, and Indiana, with only the Los Angeles victory coming by less than double digits. They followed those three wins with three losses to start September. They turned their fortunes around to finish the month, going 3âÂÂ1, with defeats of Atlanta, Seattle, and San Antonio. They finished September with a 3âÂÂ4 record and a 16âÂÂ18 overall record.
The Mercury finished tied for third in the Western Conference. They lost the tiebreaker against Seattle, as the season series finished 2âÂÂ1 in the Storm's favor. This resulted in the Mercury being the eighth, and final seed, in the 2016 WNBA playoffs. As the eighth seed, their First Round match was on the road against the fifth seed, Indiana. The Mercury prevailed 89âÂÂ78 behind a twenty-point performance from Diana Taurasi. Taurasi turned in a thirty-point performance in the Second Round against the New York Liberty. The game was within two points in the fourth quarter, but a late surge saw the Mercury pull away and win 101âÂÂ94. The Mercury advanced to the semifinals to face the top seed Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx would go on to sweep the Mercury three games to zero. Game two was the closest of the three games, with the Mercury losing 96âÂÂ86. Brittney Griner lead the league in blocks, and she was selected to the all-defensive second team. Taurasi was selected to the All-WNBA Second Team.
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|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 | May 4 | @ Seattle | W 81âÂÂ73 | Taylor, Williams (15) | Isabelle Harrison (8) | Monique Currie (7) | KeyArena<br>3,721 | 1âÂÂ0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | May 8 | Seattle | L 70âÂÂ76 | Mistie Bass (14) | Bass, Harrison, Petrovià(6) | Bass, Petrovià(3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>4,074 | 1âÂÂ1
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | May 14 | @ Minnesota | L 76âÂÂ95 | Diana Taurasi (18) | Bonner, Griner, Petrovià(5) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Target Center<br>9,221 | 0âÂÂ1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | May 18 | @ Indiana | L 93âÂÂ97 | Diana Taurasi (32) | Brittney Griner (9) | Diana Taurasi (5) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>6,749 | 0âÂÂ2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | May 20 | Seattle | L 80âÂÂ81 | Diana Taurasi (23) | Penny Taylor (7) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>13,048 | 0âÂÂ3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | May 25 | Minnesota | L 78âÂÂ85 | Penny Taylor (25) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,368 | 0âÂÂ4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 5 | May 29 | Washington | W 93âÂÂ77 | Diana Taurasi (28) | DeWanna Bonner (12) | Penny Taylor (4) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,228 | 1âÂÂ4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 6 | May 31 | Connecticut | W 99âÂÂ90 | Brittney Griner (21) | DeWanna Bonner (8) | Diana Taurasi (9) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>8,412 | 2âÂÂ4
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 | June 3 | @ Seattle | L 81âÂÂ95 | Penny Taylor (19) | Brittney Griner (6) | Penny Taylor (5) | KeyArena<br>6,510 | 2âÂÂ5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 | June 7 | @ Minnesota | L 81âÂÂ89 | Bonner, Griner (14) | Candice Dupree (8) | Penny Taylor (10) | Target Center<br>7,207 | 2âÂÂ6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 9 | June 9 | San Antonio | W 90âÂÂ75 | Diana Taurasi (31) | Brittney Griner (8) | DeWanna Bonner (4) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,048 | 3âÂÂ6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 10 | June 12 | Chicago | W 86âÂÂ80 | Diana Taurasi (31) | Brittney Griner (10) | Candice Dupree (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,055 | 4âÂÂ6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 11 | June 17 | @ Los Angeles | L 71âÂÂ77 | Candice Dupree (16) | DeWanna Bonner (9) | Dupree, Taylor (3) | Staples Center<br>8,964 | 4âÂÂ7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 | June 18 | Dallas | L 111âÂÂ117 (OT) | DeWanna Bonner (38) | Brittney Griner (9) | Quinn, Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>10,235 | 4âÂÂ8 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 13 | June 21 | @ Dallas | L 90âÂÂ100 | DeWanna Bonner (26) | Brittney Griner (8) | Diana Taurasi (6) | College Park Center<br>6,819 | 4âÂÂ9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 14 | June 24 | @ Washington | W 91âÂÂ79 | Diana Taurasi (27) | Griner, Taurasi (5) | Harding, Taurasi (5) | Capital One Arena<br>5,136 | 5âÂÂ9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 15 | June 26 | @ New York | W 104âÂÂ94 (OT) | Candice Dupree (26) | Candice Dupree (8) | Penny Taylor (7) | Madison Square Garden<br>9,591 | 6âÂÂ9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 16 | June 29 | Connecticut | W 86âÂÂ75 | Sonja Petrovià(22) | Brittney Griner (8) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>10,551 | 7âÂÂ9
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 17 | July 1 | New York | L 88âÂÂ99 | DeWanna Bonner (22) | Candice Dupree (6) | DeWanna Bonner (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>11,606 | 7âÂÂ10 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 18 | July 3 | @ Atlanta | W 95âÂÂ87 | Brittney Griner (27) | Brittney Griner (10) | Diana Taurasi (8) | Philips Arena<br>6,557 | 8âÂÂ10 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 19 | July 5 | @ Dallas | L 74âÂÂ77 | Diana Taurasi (22) | Candice Dupree (6) | Brittney Griner (6) | College Park Center<br>5,480 | 8âÂÂ11 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 20 | July 8 | Indiana | L 60âÂÂ78 | Bone, Taurasi (13) | Kelsey Bone (5) | Lindsey Harding (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>10,371 | 8âÂÂ12 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 21 | July 10 | @ Chicago | L 95âÂÂ100 | Diana Taurasi (26) | Candice Dupree (7) | Marta Xargay (6) | Allstate Arena<br>7,021 | 8âÂÂ13 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 22 | July 13 | Washington | W 78âÂÂ74 | Brittney Griner (22) | Brittney Griner (8) | Diana Taurasi (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>10,628 | 9âÂÂ13 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 23 | July 16 | San Antonio | W 83âÂÂ64 | DeWanna Bonner (33) | DeWanna Bonner (8) | Harden, Harding, Xargay (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>11,539 | 10âÂÂ13 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 24 | July 19 | Chicago | L 77âÂÂ79 | DeWanna Bonner (20) | Bonner, Dupree (8) | Taurasi, Xargay (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,318 | 10âÂÂ14
|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 25 | August 26 | Dallas | W 98âÂÂ72 | Penny Taylor (22) | DeWanna Bonner (10) | Harding, Taylor, Xargay (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>11,396 | 11âÂÂ14 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 26 | August 28 | Los Angeles | W 70âÂÂ66 | Diana Taurasi (26) | Bone, Dupree (7) | Penny Taylor (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>11,905 | 12âÂÂ14 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 27 | August 30 | @ Indiana | W 79âÂÂ65 | Brittney Griner (20) | Brittney Griner (7) | Dupree, Griner (3) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>7,250 | 13âÂÂ14
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 28 | September 2 | @ Connecticut | L 74âÂÂ87 | Brittney Griner (29) | Candice Dupree (10) | Harding, Taurasi, Taylor (3) | Mohegan Sun Arena<br>6,709 | 13âÂÂ15 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 29 | September 3 | @ New York | L 70âÂÂ92 | Marta Xargay (16) | Candice Dupree (8) | DeWanna Bonner (4) | Madison Square Garden<br>10,026 | 13âÂÂ16 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 30 | September 6 | @ Atlanta | L 87âÂÂ91 | Diana Taurasi (23) | DeWanna Bonner (7) | DeWanna Bonner (7) | Philips Arena<br>3,625 | 13âÂÂ17 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 31 | September 11 | Atlanta | W 86âÂÂ75 | Brittney Griner (21) | Brittney Griner (9) | Bonner, Xargay (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,877 | 14âÂÂ17 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 32 | September 14 | @ Los Angeles | L 85âÂÂ90 | DeWanna Bonner (20) | Brittney Griner (16) | Marta Xargay (6) | Staples Center<br>9,371 | 14âÂÂ18 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 33 | September 15 | Seattle | W 86âÂÂ62 | Brittney Griner (21) | DeWanna Bonner (9) | Diana Taurasi (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>10,380 | 15âÂÂ18 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 34 | September 18 | San Antonio | W 81âÂÂ65 | Diana Taurasi (18) | Brittney Griner (7) | Taurasi, Taylor (4) | AT&T Center<br>6,397 | 16âÂÂ18
|- style="background:#bbffbb" | 1 | September 21 | @ Indiana | W 89âÂÂ78 | Diana Taurasi (20) | Brittney Griner (9) | Penny Taylor (4) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br>6,282 | 1âÂÂ0
|- style="background:#bbffbb" | 1 | September 24 | @ New York | W 101âÂÂ94 | Diana Taurasi (30) | Brittney Griner (10) | Brittney Griner (5) | Madison Square Garden<br>10,227 | 1âÂÂ0
|- style="background:#fcc" | 1 | September 28 | @ Minnesota | L 95âÂÂ113 | Diana Taurasi (25) | Penny Taylor (5) | Dupree, Harding (5) | Xcel Energy Center<br>9,013 | 0âÂÂ1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 2 | September 30 | @ Minnesota | L 86âÂÂ96 | Diana Taurasi (31) | Isabelle Harrison (9) | Penny Taylor (5) | Xcel Energy Center<br>11,923 | 0âÂÂ2 |- style="background:#fcc" | 3 | October 2 | Minnesota | L 67âÂÂ82 | Bonner, Taurasi (12) | Griner, Harrison (7) | Marta Xargay (5) | Talking Stick Resort Arena<br>9,631 | 0âÂÂ3
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