With two warm-up games against the hapless Shock out of the way, the Mercury can get down to the serious business of preparing for the playoffs. The goal is to secure the second-seed and find a nice rhythm going into the post-season.
With rumors swirling that Diana Taurasi could take next summer off, the Mercury clearly see their time as now. That motivated them to give up a first round draft pick in a deep draft to swap back-up centers with Tulsa. Kara Braxton is reported to be with the team already; we'll see if she gets time in today's game.
The Lynx (7-13) have dropped into fourth place with a loss to the Silver Stars and are highly motivated to regain the third spot and avoid the league's best team, the Seattle Storm.
The Mercury and Lynx have split their season series so far with rookie Monica Wright dropping 32 and 21 points in the those games. She's only averaging 9.3 points overall.
The game, or part of it, might be broadcast on NBA TV. These things are never as clear as they should be.