Despite being one of three Phoenix Mercury players to hit a statistical milestone Monday night against the New York Liberty, point guard Natasha Cloud only focused on her achievement briefly.
All within the second quarter, Cloud set the Mercury’s single-season assists record, guard Diana Taurasi moved into fourth on the league’s all-time assist leader board and center Brittney Griner recorded her 800th career block.
The landmark efforts from Cloud, Taurasi and Griner were not enough to help the Mercury hand the Liberty their second straight loss. Instead, the Mercury started their five-game homestand with an 84-70 loss to New York.
“That shit don’t mean anything when we’re not winning,” Cloud told reporters postgame. “So I appreciate it. I’m so thankful for it. Beyond blessed that my name is etched into the books here in Phoenix as well because I want to have [an] impact in my career. But when we don’t come out with a win, it’s hard to celebrate those things.”
Taurasi hit her achievement first. Just 14 seconds into the second quarter, Taurasi passed the ball inside to Griner on the left block. Griner turned toward the hoop and finished the play with three Liberty players defending her.
The assist was number 2,349 in Taurasi’s career. She surpassed Lindsay Whalen to move into fourth on the all-time list.
A little over three minutes later, Cloud reached her assist milestone. On another routine play, Cloud passed the ball to wing Kahleah Copper at the left elbow. Copper turned toward the middle of the paint, took one dribble to the right and hit a pull-up jumper to score.
The assist was Cloud’s 198th of the season. She surpassed the previous franchise record of 197 in a single season, set by Taurasi in 2013. Cloud finished the game with seven assists, now sitting at 204 on the season.
“Yeah, I mean, she’s a pass-first point guard,” head coach Nate Tibbetts told media postgame. “We’ve got great shooters around her. … I’m happy for her. Credit to her. For the great players and the history that is here, for her to come in and her first year and set a season record is pretty impressive.”
Griner didn’t let the first half end without putting her name in the history books. She became just the third player in WNBA history to record 800 blocks.
To get it done, Griner impressively swatted a layup attempt by New York forward Breanna Stewart. For good measure, Griner made it 801 blocks on the very next possession by blocking Liberty center Jonquel Jones. She’s now 21 blocks behind Lisa Leslie, who is second on the all-time list.
“She does it year after year,” Tibbetts said of Griner. “… tonight was tough for her, because Jones can shoot it, but then we’re asking [Griner] to be at the rim. She had a couple big time blocks, and we need that rim protection from her.”
In addition to putting up historic numbers, Cloud and Griner were also the Mercury’s leading scorers Monday night. Griner led with 22 points on 11-for-16 shooting. Meanwhile, Cloud scored 18, going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Unfortunately for Phoenix, the pair also combined for 13 of the Mercury’s 20 turnovers that directly led to 28 points for the Liberty.
“New York’s the second [best] defensive team in the league, but all those turnovers are controllable for us,” Cloud said. “It’s just valuing possessions too, right? It’s like, we’re seeing the actions, but we’re not on the same page about seeing the actions.”
Taking better care of the ball was a point of emphasis post-game, especially with the Minnesota Lynx, the league’s best defensive team next up on the Mercury’s schedule. Following Monday’s loss, the Mercury sit at 16-15. They still possess the sixth seed in the standings, but the Indiana Fever are only two wins behind with 10 games left to play.
With match-ups against the Lynx, Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm taking place within the next 11 days, the Mercury will try to turn their individual accomplishments into team wins.
“This is the best league, and each game is going to be tough,” Griner told the media postgame. “So just being able to refocus and lock back in, you know, we’ve been tested on the road. We’ve went and won on the road as well. We’re going to lock in better at home as well. But I think everything that’s happening to us is just getting us prepared for playoffs.”
