Griner, Brittney

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      Russian Court Extends Brittney Griner’s Detention

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      A Russian court has extended the detention of the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner to May 19, the Russian news agency Tass reported on Thursday, adding tension to the most dangerous moment in U.S.-Russia relations since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.Ms. Griner, 31, a seven-time W.N.B.A. All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury, is being held on drug charges that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.The Russian Federal Customs Service said earlier this month that its officials had detained the American basketball player after they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow in February. They did not immediately release the name of Ms. Griner, who was later identified by Tass.Ms. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, is one of several W.N.B.A. players who compete on international women’s teams in the off-season to supplement paychecks that are a fraction of their counterparts’ salaries in the N.B.A. She has played for the Russian team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, since 2014.Representative Colin Allred, Democrat of Texas, told The New York Times last week that Ms. Griner, a Texas native, had been detained on Feb. 17 and that he was working with the State Department to have her released. Russian authorities have so far denied the State Department’s request for a meeting between consular officials and Ms. Griner, Mr. Allred said.American officials, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, have said that certain details surrounding Ms. Griner’s detention could not be disclosed due to privacy constraints.Since she was detained, family and friends of Ms. Griner have come forward to express their shared desire to get her home safely.Ms. Griner’s wife, Cherelle T. Griner, said in an Instagram post last week, “We love you babe!” and “There are no words to express this pain.”The State Department has advised all U.S. citizens in Russia to leave the country and has warned that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has “severe limitations” on its ability to provide assistance to Americans there. The W.N.B.A. said on Mar. 5 that all of its other players in Ukraine and Russia had left those countries. More

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      Brittney Griner’s Detention in Russia Is Cloaked in Silence

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      Those close to Griner have said little publicly since the W.N.B.A. star was detained in Russia on Feb. 17 on drug charges. Their approach has parallels with other efforts to release Americans held overseas.The detention of the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner in Russia on drug charges has left her supporters searching for a road map to a resolution in what could be an especially dangerous situation during the war in Ukraine.An exact parallel is hard to come by, but a situation nearly five years ago, in which three U.C.L.A. basketball players were accused of crimes while in China, blended sports, international diplomacy and a desire for secrecy in a way that echoes Griner’s situation as efforts to bring her home continue quietly.“It is an extremely sensitive situation,” said Representative Colin Allred, Democrat of Texas, who said he was working with the State Department to have Griner released. He added, “What we’re trying to do now, of course, is be helpful and not do anything that’ll place Brittney in any kind of danger or make her situation worse.”Griner’s attorney in Russia contacted the U.S. Embassy shortly after she was detained on Feb. 17, Allred said, after Russian Federal Customs Service officials said they had found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. Allred said the Russian authorities have denied the State Department’s request that consular officials meet with Griner.“It’s already a violation of international norms and the way these things are handled when they happen to Americans abroad,” Allred said.Griner, 31, a center for the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury, is said to be facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the drug charges. Many W.N.B.A. players supplement their salaries by playing internationally during the off-season. Griner has played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014. Those close to her, and officials from the W.N.B.A. and its players’ union, have said little about Griner’s situation beyond that they support her and hope to have her return home safely.The length of her detention so far is not unusual given the charges, said Tom Firestone, an attorney at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, who was the resident legal adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow while working for the Justice Department. Russia’s customs service said in a statement on Saturday that it had opened a criminal case into the large-scale transportation of drugs.“Russia has not had liberalization in its cannabis laws the same way we have in the United States,” Firestone said.Russian prosecutors have two months to conduct a preliminary investigation and build a case, but can receive extensions beyond that, Firestone said. Getting out on bail is difficult for people charged with narcotics offenses, and will be especially so for Griner since she is not a Russian citizen, Firestone said.“They should get consular access certainly,” Firestone said. “When an American is arrested overseas the first source of assistance from the U.S. government is the consulate at the U.S. Embassy.”What role, if any, UMMC Ekaterinburg is playing in Griner’s case is unknown, but local ties can be crucial in situations like these, as they were for the three U.C.L.A. basketball players, LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, who were detained in China for shoplifting in November 2017 before a preseason game.From left, Cody Riley, LiAngelo Ball and Jalen Hill were accused of shoplifting while on a trip to China in 2017 with the U.C.L.A. men’s basketball team.Lucy Nicholson/Reuters“We were in Hangzhou, the headquarters of Alibaba, who was our host for the tournament, and they had a deep and nuanced appreciation for the local laws, customs,” said Larry Scott, who was then the commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference. He added, “And it was important to take guidance from them in addition to working with U.S. government officials and others.”Ball, Hill and Riley were in custody for less than a day before being released on bail. They returned to the United States about a week later and apologized publicly for the theft.Ball, who is the brother of the N.B.A. players Lonzo and LaMelo Ball, was the most well-known of the three U.C.L.A. players. “I’d like to start off by saying sorry for stealing from the stores in China,” LiAngelo Ball said at a news conference after returning to the United States. “I’m a young man, but it’s not an excuse for making a really stupid decision.”Scott also said the remorse shown by the players was instrumental in their being allowed to return swiftly. “They were apologetic for it and expressed that,” he said. “There’s an element of saving face involved for local authorities to understand foreigners coming in respect local laws and the local culture.”It is unclear whether Griner had drugs in her luggage, and American officials have repeatedly accused Russia of detaining U.S. citizens for specious reasons. But those close to Griner appear to be following one of the strategies employed by those surrounding Ball, Hill and Riley in 2017: creating as little public noise as possible.Russia-Ukraine War: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 4On the ground. More

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      Brittney Griner’s WNBA Impact Is Clear As Fans Await Word from Russia

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      Griner, one of the world’s best basketball players, was believed to have been detained in Russia on what customs officials described as drug charges. Fans are worried.When Brittney Griner is on the basketball court, everyone knows. At 6-foot-9, she towers over most other players. She snatches rebounds over her opponents’ outstretched arms, and her teammates know the surest way to score: Deliver the ball to her.Since the Phoenix Mercury drafted Griner No. 1 overall in 2013, she has become one of the most dominant players ever: a seven-time All-Star, a W.N.B.A. champion and a two-time Olympian with matching gold medals.But now Griner, 31, has become entangled in a geopolitical quandary. Instead of preparing for the W.N.B.A. season that’s less than two months away, she is believed to be detained in Russia on what customs officials described as drug charges, with little word on her case or her well-being during the war in Ukraine.“With all the problems with Russia and them attacking Ukraine, has Brittney become a political bargaining chip?” said Debbie Jackson, Griner’s high school basketball coach. “Is this part of politics? So much of it doesn’t make any sense to me that I find it hard to believe that this is really the true thing that happened.”Griner was in Russia playing for a professional basketball league, a common off-season practice for W.N.B.A. players, who can earn salaries in overseas leagues well beyond what their American teams pay. The date and circumstances of Griner’s potential detention were not known, and the W.N.B.A. said all of its players except for Griner were out of the country by Saturday.Griner is said to be facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the drug charges, based on accusations that she had vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. The Russian authorities, who said Saturday that they had detained an American athlete on these drug charges, did not name Griner, but the Russian news agency Tass did.On Monday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said she had seen reports about Griner but that federal privacy law prevented the U.S. government from discussing a person’s detention without their written consent. American officials have repeatedly accused Russia of detaining U.S. citizens on pretexts.Representatives for Griner have declined to comment on Griner’s status beyond a statement that they were working to get her back to the United States. The uncertainty has caused an outpouring among fans and supporters of Griner, a groundbreaking player known for her unmatched blitz of dunks and her standing as one of the most prominent gay athletes.A congresswoman in Houston, Griner’s hometown, has demanded her release. W.N.B.A. players have posted “Free Brittney” messages on Twitter.“There are no words to express this pain,” Brittney’s wife, Cherelle Griner, wrote on Monday in an Instagram post addressed to Brittney. “I’m hurting, we’re hurting. We await the day to love on you as a family.”‘Nobody can do what she can do’Griner (42) during the 2012 N.C.A.A. national championship game against Notre Dame. Griner played for Baylor for four seasons.Justin Edmonds/Getty ImagesGriner was a 5-foot-8 freshman on the volleyball team at Nimitz High School in Houston when Jackson approached her about playing basketball.Griner initially laughed at the thought of trying out for a sport she’d never played and knew little about. But she quickly fell in love with it, Jackson said. It helped that she grew nearly a foot, to 6 feet 7 inches tall, by her senior year.“She wasn’t like a clumsy tall person that had to grow into her body,” Jackson said. “She was really quite gifted as far as coordination.”Griner earned a basketball scholarship to Baylor University, where for four years she performed with a combination of size, skill, fluidity and speed unlike any other women’s basketball player in the country. She could score at will under the basket, and highlight-reel dunks made her mesmerizing.“Nobody can do what she can do,” Nancy Lieberman, the first woman to play on a professional men’s team, said during Griner’s freshman season at Baylor. “Not Cheryl Miller. Not Lisa Leslie. Not Candace Parker.”Griner led Baylor to an undefeated record during the 2011-12 season, which the Bears capped with a win over Notre Dame in the national championship game. She won the Big 12 Player of the Year Award three times and made 18 dunks at Baylor. Before her, few women had dunked in a college game at all.‘She was absolutely a force’Griner has been one of the W.N.B.A.’s best scorers throughout her career. She averaged 20.5 points per game in the 2021 season.Cooper Neill for The New York TimesThe Mercury drafted Griner in 2013, in the hope that she would rejuvenate their franchise. The turnaround was swift with Griner playing alongside Diana Taurasi, the W.N.B.A.’s career scoring leader. The Mercury made the playoffs during Griner’s rookie season and won a championship in her second. Last season, she was key to the Mercury’s run to the W.N.B.A. finals, where they lost to the Chicago Sky.“In terms of talent, she was absolutely a force and continues to be a force,” said Pamela Wheeler, a former head of the W.N.B.A. players’ union. “I think that everyone was looking for her to help guide the league, which she did, into a new era.”The year Griner was drafted, the league rebranded, changing its logo and focusing on promoting three rookies: Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Elena Delle Donne.Griner seemed to be a good fit, with an engaging personality, a willingness to laugh at herself and a passion for calling out bullying. She was also open about being gay, which has become more common in sports, in part because of her.“I’m up for the challenge,” Griner said at the time about being part of the rebranding. “I changed stuff in college basketball, I guess you could say, so I’m up for it. I never shy from anything. Whatever’s thrown at me, I’m ready for it.”As she elevated her game domestically, Griner also made a name for herself in international basketball. She won two Olympic gold medals with the United States women’s national team, in 2016 and 2021, and started playing for teams in Russia and China during W.N.B.A. off-seasons.‘For the money’ and ‘For the love of the game’Griner has played for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a professional women’s basketball team in Russia, for several years during the W.N.B.A. off-season.Erdem Sahin/EPA, via ShutterstockNearly half of the W.N.B.A.’s 144 players were believed to be playing for international teams this off-season, including more than a dozen in Russia and Ukraine. Griner has played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg for several years.“While a number of players are doing it for the money as well,” said Wheeler, the former union leader, “they’re also doing it for the love of the game and continuing to be able to play and continue to keep themselves in playing shape.”The maximum base salary for W.N.B.A. players is about $228,000, but international teams have been known to pay several hundred thousand dollars, and even more than $1 million. Griner is set to earn just under the W.N.B.A. max in the 2022 season. With the W.N.B.A.’s minimum salary around $60,000, many players earn the bulk of their income by playing abroad.But playing overseas is not a “tourist opportunity” for most players, said Courtney Cox, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, who said she traveled to Russia in 2018 to do research for a book about women’s professional basketball around the world.“There’s this whisper network of where is it safe to play, where players are sharing information: where you get paid on time, where they look out for you, the better trainers, all this information,” Cox said. “There’s kind of a trauma bond, I think, that happens, when you play in some of these spaces where you might be one of the only American players, depending on the policies of the league.”After Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, W.N.B.A. players in both countries fled.‘She pushes back on gender roles’Griner kissed her wife, Cherelle Griner, in the stands after the Mercury defeated the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals of the 2021 W.N.B.A. playoffs.Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesPlaying in the United States can come with its own issues. In her memoir “In My Skin,” Griner wrote about her time at Baylor, a Baptist-­affiliated school that had an official policy against homosexuality at the time. In the book, Griner said that Kim Mulkey, her coach, had warned Griner to “keep your business behind closed doors” and told her to cover her tattoos and delete social media posts about her girlfriend and L.G.B.T. issues.What to Know About Brittney Griner’s Detention in RussiaCard 1 of 4What happened? More

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      What We Know About Brittney Griner’s Detention in Russia

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      The W.N.B.A. star was stopped at an airport outside Moscow and accused of carrying hashish oil in her luggage. But much about the case remains unclear.As tensions rose between Russia and the United States, Russian authorities detained Brittney Griner, a W.N.B.A. star, on drug charges. The Russian Federal Customs Service announced Ms. Griner’s detention on Saturday but said she was stopped at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow last month.The detention of Ms. Griner, 31, a seven-time W.N.B.A. All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury and a key figure in two champion Olympic teams, comes during an inflamed standoff between Russia and the United States over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pulls the player in the middle of the most acute crisis between the two countries since the Cold War.Here is what we know so far about Ms. Griner’s detention.Russia is talking about potentially serious charges.The Russian Federal Customs Service said that a sniffer dog had prompted it to search the carry-on luggage of an American basketball player at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, and that it had found vape cartridges containing hashish oil. A state-owned Russian news agency then identified the player as Ms. Griner.Hashish oil is a marijuana concentrate that has a high concentration of the psychoactive chemical THC, and it is commonly sold in cartridges that are used in vape pens. The Russian Federal Customs Service said that customs officers had noticed vapes after scanning the traveler’s bag.The customs service said that a criminal case had been opened into the large-scale transportation of drugs, a charge that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.It released a video of a traveler who appeared to be Ms. Griner going through airport security with a trolley suitcase and a small backpack, followed by footage of someone examining a package that appeared to be from the traveler’s suitcase.“Brittney has always handled herself with the utmost professionalism during her long tenure with USA Basketball,” U.S.A. Basketball said on Twitter.The timing of the detention remains murky. Its political implications do, too.The screening at the airport occurred in February, according to the Customs Service, raising the possibility that Ms. Griner had been in custody for at least several days. She last posted on Instagram on Feb. 5. The timing provided leaves open the possibility that the case could have been underway in secret for weeks before Russian authorities chose to draw attention to it.It is still unclear whether Russia might have targeted Ms. Griner as leverage against the United States, which has led a widespread effort to impose harsh sanctions on Russia and its elite.Citing privacy constraints, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken did not comment on the detention on Sunday at a news conference in Chisinau, Moldova, and did not respond to a question about whether Russia had announced her arrest as retaliation for the economic, military and diplomatic pressure the United States has leveled against Russia in recent days.But American officials have repeatedly accused Russia of detaining U.S. citizens on doubtful pretexts.“This follows a pattern of Russia wrongly detaining & imprisoning US citizens,” Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, wrote on Twitter on Saturday, citing the case of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine whom a Russian court sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 on charges of violence against police officers that his family and supporters described as fraudulent.On Saturday, the State Department released an updated advisory urging American citizens to leave Russia immediately given the “potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials.”Ms. Griner was in Russia to play. Many W.N.B.A. stars rely on income from overseas leagues.Ms. Griner has played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg for several years during the W.N.B.A. off-season.Many American players compete with high-paying Russian teams: about 70 W.N.B.A. players have decided to play with international teams instead of resting during the off-season this year, with more than a dozen in Russia and Ukraine.A W.N.B.A. spokeswoman said on Saturday that all the others had already left Russia and Ukraine.The financial incentives are compelling. W.N.B.A. players make a fraction of what their male counterparts do, with their maximum salary in 2022 at $228,094 while the top N.B.A. players are paid tens of millions of dollars.International female teams, which tend to have more government and corporate financial support than those in the W.N.B.A., can pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a season, and sometimes more than $1 million.Some observers criticized the gender pay gap in American basketball in connection to Ms. Griner’s detention.The public statements are cautious, but supporters are rallying around Ms. Griner.Mr. Blinken said the State Department would “provide every possible assistance” to any American held by a foreign government.“Whenever an American is detained anywhere in the world, we of course stand ready to provide every possible assistance,” Mr. Blinken said. “And that includes in Russia.”The W.N.B.A. said in a statement that Ms. Griner “has the W.N.B.A.’s full support and our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States.”The Mercury also released a statement saying that they “love and support Brittney” and that their main concern was her safety, her physical and mental health and her safe return home.“Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me regarding my wife’s safe return from Russia,” Ms. Griner’s wife, Cherelle T. Griner, posted on Instagram on Saturday, adding, “We continue to work on getting my wife home safely.”Lara Jakes More

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      Russia Says It Has American Basketball Player in Custody

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      The Russian Federal Customs Service said that its officials had detained an American basketball player after finding vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow.The Customs Service said in a statement that the player had won two Olympic gold medals with the United States, but it did not release the player’s name. The Russian news agency TASS, citing a law enforcement source, identified the player as Brittney Griner, a seven-time W.N.B.A. All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury. Griner won gold medals with the U.S. women’s national basketball team in 2021 and 2016.The Customs Service released a video of a traveler at the airport that appeared to be the 31-year-old Griner, wearing a mask and black sweatshirt, going through security. The video showed an individual removing a package from the traveler’s bag.According to the statement, a criminal case has been opened into the large-scale transportation of drugs, which can carry a sentence of up to 10 years behind bars in Russia. The basketball player was taken into custody while the investigation is ongoing, the officials said.Griner’s agent and spokespeople for the W.N.B.A. and the Phoenix Mercury did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The detainment comes amid the escalating conflict created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and high tensions between Russia and the United States. In recent years, Russia has been detaining and sentencing American citizens on what United States officials often say are trumped-up charges. The arrest of a high-profile American could be seen as Russia attempting to create leverage for a potential prisoner exchange with the American government.Many W.N.B.A. players compete in Russia, where salaries are more lucrative, during the American league’s off-season. Griner has played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg for several years.Some American players began making plans to leave Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.“The few W.N.B.A. players who were competing this off-season in Ukraine are no longer in the country,” the W.N.B.A. told ESPN in a statement this week. “The league has also been in contact with W.N.B.A. players who are in Russia, either directly or through their agents. We will continue to closely monitor the situation.” More

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      Sky Bring Hoops Championship Buzz Back to Chicago

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      Sky forward Kahleah Copper’s hot shooting against the Mercury in Game 3 of the W.N.B.A. finals has the team one win away from its first title.CHICAGO — It has been more than 23 years since Michael Jordan stole the ball from Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, drove the length of the court and nailed a jumper to give his Chicago Bulls a 1-point win in Game 6 of the N.B.A. finals. The unforgettable sequence secured the Bulls’ sixth championship and had Chicago fans reveling in a shared moment of pride.It has been a while since this city’s pro hoops fans have known that feeling, but the W.N.B.A.’s Sky have kept them familiar with high-stakes basketball.Draped in blue and yellow jerseys Friday night, eager Chicago fans packed into Wintrust Arena to watch the Sky take on the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of the W.N.B.A. finals.The city’s yearning for a championship manifested in the atmosphere. Fans swirled towels above their heads during the Sky’s player introductions. They booed and heckled Mercury players every possession. And they roared and bounced up and down all over the arena with every made Chicago basket. Every. Single. One.Late in the game, after Chicago was well on its way to an 86-50 victory that would put the Sky one win away from clinching their first championship in franchise history, a Sky fan yelled “better luck next year” at the Mercury players on the court.By the fourth quarter, both teams had already subbed out their starters. “Sky in four” chants erupted as Chicago’s bench entered, making one reality clear: Chicago is, again, ready for a championship moment.Game 4 is Sunday in Chicago. The Sky lead the best-of-five series, two games to one.“I really feel Chicago. I really feel it,” Sky Coach James Wade said after Friday’s game. “The way they came out and supported, you can feel the passion that they have. It just gives us more passion. Hopefully we can see the same things Sunday, and we can all celebrate together.”Chicago’s ability to rely on its stars’ strengths has the team on the verge of a title. Candace Parker’s vocal leadership on both ends of the floor. Guard Courtney Vandersloot’s skill in finding open teammates and facilitating the offense (she had 10 assists on Friday). And Chicago has increasingly relied on forward Kahleah Copper’s athleticism, the way she blows past defenders and how she takes advantage of one-on-one matchups — skills that have made her one of the most impactful players in the finals.The sixth-seeded Sky used a dominant team defensive performance and a statement game from Copper to gain potentially series-clinching momentum in Game 3, after upsetting the fifth-seeded Mercury in Game 1 and falling short in overtime in Game 2. They tied a W.N.B.A. finals record for the largest lead at halftime (22), set the record for largest margin of victory in a finals game (36) and held the Mercury to 25.8 percent shooting on the night.Parker, who is from the Chicago suburb Naperville and signed with the Sky after 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, had 13 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds.Copper scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half as the Sky pulled away early, eliciting deafening roars from the home crowd, which included the Chicago native Chance the Rapper, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver and Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.“The one thing that probably doesn’t get talked about as much — her competitiveness,” Wade said of Copper. “That’s what it takes to get to the next level. We used to see it every day, even when she wasn’t playing as much. So it’s no surprise to us because we know what we have in her. Now she’s letting the world know. It’s just who she is.”Mercury Coach Sandy Brondello said after the game that Phoenix simply could not handle Copper, who was 6 of 10 from the floor.“We allowed her to sweep and go baseline way too much,” Brondello said. “When she’s shooting it from outside, you’ve got to give up something, don’t you? And she was making it. She had a really good game, and obviously that took the life out of us a little bit.”The scoring of Phoenix’s Big Three, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Skylar Diggins-Smith, has kept the team alive in critical games throughout the postseason. They combined for 56 points in the decisive Game 5 of the semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces. Now, even after an unusually poor shooting night against the Sky in Game 3 — they were a combined 10-for-36 from the field — they can be the key to keeping the Mercury’s season alive Sunday.Teams this postseason, and during most of the regular season, have had few answers for Griner’s dominance under the basket. She is a nightmare one-on-one matchup in the low post, and has gotten better at passing out of double teams to find open teammates on the perimeter.The Sky crowded Griner early, though, and held her to just 4 points in the second half Friday, for a total of 16 after she had scored a career-playoff high 29 in Game 2.When she got open looks, “she just missed them,” Brondello said. “They played in her space a little bit more. I think in the second half, you saw she went to the right hook.”Brondello added later, “She’s still someone we need to get the ball to as much as possible.”Mercury center Brittney Griner, left, defending Candace Parker. Griner was the only Phoenix player to score in double digits, with 16 points.Paul Beaty/Associated PressPhoenix last won the league title in 2014, when it defeated the Sky for its third championship in franchise history. This time, both teams have had a difficult path to the finals. The Sky finished the regular season with a 16-16 record, and few pegged them to make the finals. The Mercury limped into the postseason on a three-game losing streak, plagued by injuries.Could Sunday mark the end of an unlikely playoff run for both teams?With her head lowered in a postgame news conference and Taurasi sitting to her left, Diggins-Smith summed up what the Mercury have to do to extend the series and send it back to Phoenix.“Charge it to the game,” Diggins-Smith said, indicating Phoenix’s need to quickly move past Friday’s disappointing performance and refocus.“We didn’t lose the series tonight.” More

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      Career Night for Diana Taurasi Gets the Mercury Back on Track

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      The Phoenix Mercury tied their semifinal series against the Las Vegas Aces at one game apiece thanks to long-range sharpshooting from Taurasi.Diana Taurasi grimaced on the court as her Phoenix Mercury teammates carefully pulled her to her feet late in the third quarter of Game 1 of the W.N.B.A. semifinals.On the preceding play, she’d bumped into Las Vegas Aces forward Dearica Hamby while trying to dribble, skidding awkwardly to the floor. Taurasi limped up and down the court in the fourth quarter, favoring the left ankle that had kept her out of the last four regular-season games and the first round of the playoffs. She clenched her teeth and flexed the ankle on the Phoenix bench during the first part of the fourth period. Still, Taurasi finished with 20 points and six assists in the game, a 96-90 loss to the Aces.Afterward, when asked how her ankle felt, Taurasi’s answer was brief.“Great,” she said.Her proof? A 37-point, eight-3-pointer onslaught 48 hours later in the fifth-seeded Mercury’s 117-91 rout of the No. 2 Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday. The best-of-five series now heads to Phoenix tied 1-1. Game 3 is on Sunday.Despite Taurasi’s lingering health concerns, the Mercury charged through the first two rounds of the playoffs, knocking off the Liberty — in a game Taurasi missed — and the Seattle Storm, the defending champions, in single-elimination games. Their next assignment is a high-powered Las Vegas offense with A’ja Wilson, last season’s Most Valuable Player, and a bevy of other scoring threats.The Aces earned a double-bye to start the playoffs after a 24-8 regular-season record, the league’s second best. They’d held off the Mercury in Game 1 with potent shooting from guards Kelsey Plum, who won this season’s Sixth Player of the Year Award, and Riquna Williams.Before Thursday’s game, Mercury center Brittney Griner told reporters that she was treating it like a single-elimination game.“You’ve got to win this game to stay alive. It is a series, but you definitely don’t want to drop two going back home. You’ve made it a lot harder for yourself,” she said.The result was a 25-point performance. She had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in the first quarter.“Brittney’s a beast. We’ve asked her to do so much this year,” Taurasi said on the TV broadcast after the game, likely referring to Griner’s ability to handle double teams and take on tough defensive assignments.Griner finished second behind the Connecticut Sun’s Jonquel Jones in the M.V.P. voting this season, averaging a career-high 9.5 rebounds per game along with 20.5 points per game. She’s the Mercury’s defensive anchor, with a 7-foot-3.5 inch wingspan, a height and an athleticism that make her nearly impossible to shoot over.Griner’s responsibility this series has been to guard Aces center Liz Cambage, whose dominance in the post and rim protection seems rivaled by only Griner’s.Cambage terrorizes opponents with her ability to pivot, score and pull down rebounds in the post as defenders hack at her body. And the way she can alter shots on defense was one reason the Aces never allowed more than 99 points during a regular-season game this season. The tandem of Cambage and Wilson in the frontcourt had many people sure at the beginning of the season that Las Vegas was primed for another deep playoff run.Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner has had to fight through swarming defenses all season. She averaged a career-high 9.5 rebounds per game during the regular season.David Becker/Associated PressHaving been swept by the Storm in last year’s finals, the Aces had the motivation to cruise through the regular season with seven players who averaged double figures. They were without Cambage for a stretch after she tested positive for the coronavirus, but now, at full strength, the Aces are pushing to claim the title that eluded last year’s injury-ravaged team.But they have to get past a Mercury team that is equally determined to make a finals appearance. Phoenix is at its best when its core players of Griner, Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith knock down shots from all over the floor the way they did Thursday night. Griner made a handful of midrange jumpers. Diggins-Smith scored at all three levels, and as for Taurasi, well, the W.N.B.A.’s leading career scorer did what she typically does.Taurasi said after the game that after an aggressive, physical outing from the Aces on Tuesday, the Mercury responded in kind in Game 2. They built a 17-point lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it, unlike in Game 1 when their early lead fizzled before the end of the first period. Taurasi said that with so many shots going in, “it makes the game easier for you. It was a big test for us in a lot of ways, and I think we played the right way.”Aces Coach Bill Laimbeer told reporters afterward that the team couldn’t give Griner open looks outside the post.“In the post, she’s going to do her thing. That’s who she is,” he said. “But the open shots that she made tonight hurt us a lot. We’ll take that shot at times, but they went in. And we’ll take some of Taurasi’s shots some nights, too, but they went in. That’s who they are. They’re great players, and when they’re going like that, that’s what makes Phoenix’s team.”Even when it appeared that the Mercury couldn’t sustain their high-percentage shooting, they added free throws to their arsenal. Their first miss from the free-throw line didn’t come until the third quarter, and they made 23 of 24 free throws.Wilson said after the game that Las Vegas wasn’t “locked in at all to our assignments.” She added: “It seems as if we were a step behind. You can’t do that against a good Phoenix team.”The Aces, with one of the best defenses in the league, had no way of stopping Taurasi on the perimeter. Her eight 3-pointers were a playoff career high.After the game, Ros Gold-Onwude of ESPN asked Taurasi how she felt about going 8-for-11 from 3-point range.Taurasi’s reply, again, was succinct.“I only shot 11?” she said. More

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      Liberty Season Ends With Thrilling Loss in WNBA Playoffs

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      Sabrina Ionescu’s game-winner that opened the season had everyone thinking playoffs. Nothing from that point went as expected, including the team’s postseason run.The dramatic ending of the Liberty’s first trip to the playoffs since 2017 evoked memories of the start of this season.In the opener against Indiana, Sabrina Ionescu nailed a game-winning 3-pointer from the wing at Barclays Center with four-tenths of a second left and sent expectations soaring into the rafters. The Liberty started the season 5-1 and looked like a playoff team, easily surpassing their win total from last season’s 2-20 debacle.This time, with four-tenths of a second remaining in Thursday’s single-elimination first-round playoff game, the Liberty, trailing by a point, had a final chance to upset the Phoenix Mercury. As Sami Whitcomb inbounded the ball from the left side, players cut and sprinted in choreography. The first option — a lob pass toward the basket — wasn’t there, so Ionescu, coming off a screen, flared toward Whitcomb. Ionescu caught the pass from well beyond the 3-point line and launched a moonshot above the outstretched arms of Brittney Griner, the 6-foot-9 center.The last-gasp shot fell a foot short. The momentum of the fadeaway jumper, and contact with Griner, sent Ionescu skidding backward with an 83-82 loss. “It just didn’t go our way,” Liberty Coach Walt Hopkins said.With much to unpack after a thrilling game, the Liberty entered the off-season with plenty of promise, with the ball, and the franchise, in Ionescu’s hands. “I’m really excited for this next season, especially with this core group of players sitting next to me, to be able to grow from here,” Ionescu said, flanked by Betnijah Laney, the team’s leading scorer for the season, and Natasha Howard, its top rebounder, in the postgame news conference.Betnijah Laney was the Liberty’s leading scorer throughout an up-and-down season.Rebecca Noble for The New York TimesAfter a transcendent career at Oregon that made her the easy choice as the No. 1 overall draft pick for the Liberty in 2020, Ionescu severely sprained an ankle in her third W.N.B.A. game and missed the rest of her rookie season. This season, she was hard to miss. Her game face stretched across the entrance of Barclays Center. Slam magazine called her the “The Next Queen of NY” on its April/May cover. She traded wisecracks in commercials with the 11-time N.B.A. All-Star Chris Paul, who was in the stands for the playoff game.Ionescu, 23, led the league in jersey sales this season, just ahead of Seattle’s Sue Bird, who has played in the W.N.B.A. almost as long as Ionescu has been alive. “She’s just done a really, truly magnificent job of balancing expectations that may have been unrealistic for a rookie,” Hopkins said.In her playoff debut Ionescu finished with 14 points, a game-high 11 assists, and 5 rebounds.It takes years, even for prodigies, to grow into their potential. Hopkins pointed to the Mercury’s Skylar Diggins-Smith, who at 31 made her first Olympic team this past summer, and scored a team-high 22 points against the Liberty. “She’s finally realizing her potential,” Hopkins said of Diggins-Smith.“For Sabrina to get to where she’s at — where she’s taking over a young team down the stretch, to execute, and to find success, and to hit big shots, and to shout back when somebody’s talking smack to her and not take it from anybody — it’s been really, really special,” Hopkins said. “I’ve never gotten to go through and watch somebody evolve as quickly as Sab has, and it’s been a privilege, honestly.”Even so, the team’s best player all season was Laney, who posted a game-high 25 points against the Mercury. Howard led the Liberty’s persistent defense with double and triple teams, limiting Griner’s ability to take over the game in the absence of Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, who did not play with an ankle injury. Ionescu, after starring as 2-guard in college, has learned to play the point, becoming more of a facilitator than a finisher.Liberty Coach Walt Hopkins criticized the league’s referees after the game. “The way they treated us was bad,” he said.Rebecca Noble for The New York TimesIn just her sixth career pro game, Ionescu became the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double, with 26 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a win against Minnesota.However, ankle tendinitis hobbled Ionescu in June, and that, combined with the loss of Howard to a knee injury, stalled the team’s progress. The Olympic break helped Ionescu return to form, but the team’s play continued to plummet, and the Liberty won only two games in the season’s second half. The Liberty went into their final regular-season game on an eight-game losing streak but held off the Washington Mystics to keep their slight playoff hopes alive.With losses by the Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks on the final day of the regular season, the Liberty squeaked into the postseason. “Nobody thought we would be in this position,” Laney said after the Phoenix loss. “So the fact that we stuck together and made it here and fought hard, I’m really excited for what will come in the future.”Hopkins blamed the officiating after the loss, though he didn’t have an issue with the calls in the game’s waning moments.“There are a lot of things I want to say about the officiating in the W.N.B.A. and about the lack of respect this team’s gotten all season,” Hopkins said. “But I can’t say that, because referees are above reproach. They don’t have to go to a press conference after games. They don’t have to explain the mistakes they made, why they did what they do.“I don’t know where the accountability’s going to come from, but it needs to happen. It was a bad season. The way they treated us was bad.”Hopkins said the team was held to a different standard because it featured so many young players, including Ionescu and Michaela Onyenwere, who is the favorite for the Rookie of the Year Award. Against Phoenix, she played under nine minutes and didn’t score.Liberty fans in Arizona hoping for a last-second win.Rebecca Noble for The New York TimesLaney is still building her résumé, fueled by disappointment and setbacks. Since the Chicago Sky drafted her in 2015, she was cut twice, by the Sky and the Fever, before she found a spot with Atlanta last year, when she won the league’s Most Improved Player Award. Then this season, she made her first All-Star team, with the Liberty, and led the team with 16.8 points per game.Against Phoenix, Laney made her team’s last shot, with 2.7 seconds left, to tie the game at 82. But the Mercury got the ball to Brianna Turner underneath the basket on the ensuing inbounds play, and Whitcomb fouled her. Turner’s first free throw rimmed out, but she calmly made the second, to give the Mercury the lead.After a timeout, the Liberty had the final chance to win. When Ionescu hit the floor after the missed shot, Howard ran over to help her up. Ionescu didn’t look angry or crestfallen when she walked off the court. Instead, she looked as if she was banking this experience for the future.She talked about the film work she had ahead of her in the off-season, the experience gained, the lessons learned. “We are going to start training camp at this level,” she said. “This is the foundation.” More