There's little doubt that the Mercury will win this series but if they hope to repeat as WNBA Champions this year they are going to need to win big playoffs games on the road.
With a 15-19 regular season record, this is the only round where the team will have home court advantage.
After beating the Silver Stars convincingly in Game 1 in Phoenix, the Mercury will try and closeout the series today in Texas. It is important that they do so and demonstrate they can win on the road. The additional rest would also be a bonus before seeing their likely next round opponent, the Seattle Storm.
I would expect the Silver Stars to pay a little more attention to Candice Dupree who torched them for 32 points in Game 1 but that will only open more things up for Diana Taurasi who faced multiple defenders on Thursday.
It remains to be seen if Roneeka Hodges and Edwige Lawson-Wade can repeat their 6-for-9 three point shooting performance. Without those points that game would have been over even sooner.
For the Mercury, the challenge is to defend aggressively but avoid picking so many fouls. They sent San Antonio to the line for 31 free throw attempts. The team has a tendency to slap at the ball instead of playing hands up solid defense. It's a fine balance between going for the steal and being aggressive and playing smart.
The game starts at 10:00am AZT on ESPN 2.