Mercury Start The Season Slowly With Goal Of Winning The WNBA Title

ByBarry M. Bloom,

Senior Contributor.

PHOENIX – The Mercury’s 30th season began with more of a whimper than a bang on Tuesday night at Mortgage Matchup Center. There was pomp and circumstance and a pregame introduction for the ages of this year’s roster.

But sometimes the staging is better than the game and that turned out to be the case. Playing their third contest in four nights to open the schedule, the Mercury withered at the end with an 88-84 loss to the Minnesota Lynx, a hot playoff rival the past two years.

But there was nothing to be despondent about as the raucous sellout crowd of 10,826 acknowledged. For the most part, the Mercury played upbeat and entertaining basketball despite having an incomplete roster, as several players have just returned from or are still immersed in international play.