The Seattle Storm may have entered the WNBA postseason with the league’s best record and league MVP Breanna Stewart on their side, but on Tuesday night, they were reminded that no one is capable of well-timed moments of brilliance quite like Diana Taurasi. This was on display in the waning moments of Game 2 of the Conference Finals, when Taurasi scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of threes in the final 30 seconds of the frame to tie the Storm and force overtime.
Taurasi was unconscious down the stretch, helping the Mercury stage a furious comeback. Seattle had an 11-point lead with less than two minutes in the fourth, but Taurasi helped Phoenix claw back. The end of regulation saw the Mercury trailing by three with 7.3 seconds left and the ball at the near sideline. DeWanna Bonner sent a lob to Brittany Griner on the inbound, who found Taurasi sprinting behind the three-point line in front of Seattle’s bench. She had just enough time to catch and shoot before the Storm defense closed in, but it was too late.
"THE GOAT DELIVERS AGAIN!" pic.twitter.com/Y2Hi8uTXZq
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 29, 2018
A pair of the best basketball players to ever live said it best as Taurasi forced overtime for the Mercury on the road.
DIANA TAURASI doing 🐐 things #WNBAPlayoffs
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 29, 2018
🐐knows 🐐 & @DianaTaurasi is IT!! @wnba @PhoenixMercury Great Game Diana Taurasi !!
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) August 29, 2018
Seattle would come back in overtime and pull off the win, 91-87, to go up 2-0 in the best-of-5 series, but not without Taurasi giving them as big a scare as you can get without losing. Taurasi finished with 28 points in the loss, and she’ll need to come up with another big performance to keep the Mercury in the playoffs past Friday.
