The second night of the resumption of WNBA action offers up a three-game slate beginning with the Seattle Storm (17-8) visiting the Atlanta Dream (7-17) and the Phoenix Mercury (14-12) facing the Indiana Fever (11-15) at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Dallas Wings (6-19) hosting the Connecticut Sun (18-6) at 9:30 p.m. ET. All games are on ION.
Already, the impact of the compressed schedule is evident as the Mercury—a team with three Olympians, including gold medal game hero Kahleah Copper—will be on the second night of a back-to-back. On Thursday, Phoenix appeared roaring and ready for the season’s final push, smoking the Chicago Sky by 20 points, 85-65, in Copper’s first game back in the Windy City. Copper was on fire, scoring 29 points on 12-for-19 shooting, while Brittney Griner was a force, with 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five blocks. It was the kind of performance that reminded that Phoenix is more dangerous than their rather middling record.
Now, they’ll met a Fever team that spent much of the Olympic hiatus preparing for a charge up the standings. Before the extended pause, the Fever were beginning to round into the team they were expected to be, going 5-5 over their last 10 games. In that span, they had the league’s fifth-best offense…
