The Phoenix Mercury were better than the New York Liberty this season, winning 5-of-7 games including 2-of-3 in the WNBA playoffs first round thanks in part to a home-court tiebreaker edge earned in the regular season.
The margin of difference over the defending WNBA champions wasn’t great enough, though, to avoid cliff-hanger moments in the series-deciding Game 3 Friday at PHX Arena.
Like with 1:15 remaining when Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts called timeout with only two seconds left on the shot clock and his team nursing a 74-71 lead.
“We kind of had three different reads,” for inbounder Alyssa Thomas, Tibbetts said. “Satou (Sabally) set a diagonal screen and DB (DeWanna Bonner) hit a tough shot.”
Specially, a leaning runner from 13 feet that averted a shot-clock violation and gave the Mercury enough breathing room to close out a 79-73 win and clinch their first playoff series since 2021.
“That’s why you go get veterans like DB,” Tibbetts said. “She’s been in every situation. If you were to ask her, she’s probably not pleased with how she played, but she made big plays down the stretch. You don’t have time to hang your head when things aren’t going your way. She’s a tough shot maker, and she made a tough one down the stretch.”
Bonner had five fouls and was 1-of-7 shooting before she scored her first basket at 6:40 in the fourth quarter, also assisted by her fiancé Thomas. Yet the 38-year-old contributed eight rebounds to a 49-33 Mercury advantage, surpassing Candace Parker as the WNBA playoff career rebounding leader (now with 614).
“It was a struggle for me offensively,” Bonner said. “But I was going to keep going and the basketball gods had to give me one to get in there. I had confidence in my game and the confidence my teammates had to give me the ball at that moment.”
Bonner started the season with Indiana before being waived in late June. The 6-4 forward signed with the Mercury, whom she played for from 2009-19, on July 8. She played in 24 of the final 25 regular-season games, sitting out the finale to rest, averaging 10.9 points and 4.3 rebounds off the bench.
In the playoffs, Bonner was the better player in all three games than Emma Meesseman, who signed with the Liberty after her EuroBasket MVP performance for Belgium. The 6-4 forward joined the Liberty on Aug. 3, playing in 17 regular-season games.
Bonner had 30 points, 21 rebounds and three assists in the Mercury playoff win vs. Meesseman’s 13, 16 and six. Meesseman did not score and played only nine minutes in Game 3.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello knows what Bonner brings to the Mercury, seeing it first hand when she coached her in Phoenix from 2014-19.
“The first two games, she was really big for them in scoring,” Brondello said. “Today, her rebounding and she did make that really big shot that kind of broke out backs near the end of the game. DB is special. She’s still playing hard and playing at such a great level. She’s so versatile. She can shoot 3s, play off the dribble and rebounding really well. She complements how they play and has great chemistry with AT (Thomas).”
Bonner is a three-time WNBA Sixth Player of the Year award winner and won championships with the Mercury in 2009 (her rookie season) and 2014. She returned seeking some of that same magic late in her career, not to mention trying to help Thomas win her first championship after the two fell short of that during their five seasons together with the Connecticut Sun.
“It’s been a minute since the Mercury have been to the semifinals,” Bonner said. “To be back in it in that jersey and scoring in front of these fans, this is why I came back here. I’m just excited for it.”
The No. 4-seeded Mercury play No. 1 seed Minnesota in a best-of-5 semifinal series starting Sunday. Games 1 and 2 (Tuesday) are in Minneapolis then Game 3 and 4 (if necessary) are in Phoenix on Sept. 26 and 28. Game 5 if needed would be Sept. 30 with the Lynx hosting.
The Lynx are 11-2 all-time in the playoffs vs. the Mercury and 3-1 in this regular season. The Mercury’s only playoff wins over Minnesota were in 2014.
“They’ve been the No. 1 team all season,” Bonner said. “We’re going to have watch video and figure it out. It’s going to be two great teams battling it out.”
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