The Phoenix Mercury’s season ended the hard way, with a 97-87 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Saturday, Aug. 22, at Mortgage Matchup Center, according to the Arizona Republic. That result officially knocked Phoenix out of playoff contention, and it also put a spotlight on a season that never quite found steady ground.
There were still bright individual moments in the loss. The Republic reported that Alyssa Thomas finished with her third triple-double of the season, putting up 11 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Kahleah Copper was even more explosive, scoring 38 points. Phoenix also showed some fight late, trimming a 16-point third-quarter deficit and outscoring Atlanta by 10 in that stretch while shooting 59.1% (13-of-22). Copper made all but two of her nine shots and scored 18 of the Mercury’s 33 points in the run.
That kind of push is part of why this team still feels worth watching, even in a disappointing year. Coach Nate Tibbetts told the Republic that the group is “playing for pride” now, and said the second half against Atlanta was something the team could feel good about because it competed and played with passion.
But the bigger picture is what stings. One season after reaching the WNBA Finals, Phoenix finished 13-24, and Tibbetts pointed to early injuries, defensive struggles and a lack of 3-point shooting as reasons the season ended early, according to the Arizona Republic. The Mercury’s 3-point production dropped from 9.4 per game in 2025 to 7.9 in 2026, sliding from fifth-best to fourth-worst in the league.
Thomas didn’t sugarcoat the defensive side either. She said the Mercury were 12th in the league on defense, which she called unheard of for her and not where she’s used to being. That’s the kind of blunt self-assessment that usually comes only after a season has already slipped away.
There’s also the Kelsey Plum piece of the story. The Republic reported that Phoenix made a major move to bring in one of the WNBA’s best shooters, but Plum has appeared in only four games since the trade. She missed her third straight game on Aug. 22 with a left calf injury, after a full practice on Friday, Aug. 21, for the first time since reaggravating the issue against the Washington Mystics on Aug. 9. Phoenix gave up a first-round pick and a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Sparks in the deal.
So what’s next? The Mercury are out of the playoff race, but the questions around health, shooting and defense are only getting louder. For a team that was in the Finals one year ago, that makes the offseason feel like it starts early.
