Diana Taurasi is not as consistent at this point of her career as she used to be. Over her previous five games entering Wednesday, she scored zero, 13, six, 17 and seven points, respectively.
A critic would say that she only feels motivated for certain games. Whether that assessment is fair to her or not, we can agree that it’s fun to watch when she does still show up. And you knew that a matchup against GOAT-in-waiting Breanna Stewart and the superteam New York Liberty in Brooklyn with Sue Bird in attendance was a game she was going to want to take over.
Well, the 41-year-old Taurasi was brilliant with a season-high-tying 23 points (5-of-9 from three), five rebounds and seven assists. But the 28-year-old, right-in-the-middle-of-her-prime Stewart was out of this world with 43 points, 12 boards, six helpers and two blocks, strengthening her case for a second career MVP award, something Taurasi will almost certainly never attain.
Stewart made the biggest basket of the game: a little floater off the glass that made it 98-95 Liberty with 18.4 seconds remaining. New York held on to defeat Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury 99-95, improving to 12-4. The Mercury came back from down 20 and took a 94-92 lead with 1:51 to play but fell to 3-13.
