Held has been on a tear since scoring 11 points or less in her first seven appearances this season. After scoring 16 points in Tuesday’s loss to the Lynx, she was even better against the Valkyries. Held established a new career-high point total for the second straight game, with Thursday’s effort being the first in which she’s scored at least 20 points. While starter Sami Whitcomb was able to play despite a foot injury that landed her on the initial injury report, she struggled with foul trouble and ultimately fouled out. Held’s contributions were immense as the Mercury moved to 2-1 in Commissioner’s Cup play, and she’ll look to continue this recent play when Phoenix hosts Seattle on Saturday.

With 7:57 in the first quarter, Ionescu hit her 400th three-pointer, tying her with former Liberty player Crystal Robinson for the most threes made in franchise history. Ionescu reached this in 151 games and she’s the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 400 career threes, passing Diana Taurasi’s record by seven games. Around four minutes later, Ionescu hit another three in transition on a dribble drive from Natasha Cloud and became the Liberty’s all time leader in three-point makes. While Ionescu shot inefficiently, only making one other field goal besides those two treys, she was able to focus on playmaking a bit more. She found Kennedy Burke wide open for three of her four made threes in addition to hitting Breanna Stewart more than once on the run.

Coming off being named rookie of the month for May, Iriafen continued rolling on Thursday night keeping her double-digit scoring streak alive at nine games. She scored 11 of her 17 points in the first quarter alone and took advantage of the Liberty’s lackadaisical defense. With just over four minutes left in regulation, Iriafen rebounded and then scored off her own miss that was initially blocked by Breanna Stewart. That score brought the Mystics within six points after being down as many as 16. When Stewart was asked postgame about what has made Iriafen such an impressive rookie, Stewart said that Iriafen is “under control” and isn’t sped up when she plays.

Stewart posted her first double-double of the season. After Jonquel Jones left the game with 2:23 left in the first quarter, Stewart stepped up scoring 9 points to lead the Liberty in the second quarter and go into halftime with a 49-34 lead. Stewart scored 12 more points in the second half amid shooting struggles from the Liberty. She used her veteran savvy to reach the free throw line four times in the second half. Stewart also made league history on Thursday night passing Taj McWilliams-Franklin for 12th on the All-Time defensive rebounds list with 1,952. And Stewart scored her 5,566th point to become 21st on the WNBA all-time scoring list, passing Katie Douglas.

The Mercury are among the teams hit hard by the injury bug recently, with Thomas being the most notable absentee. Thursday’s game will be the fourth she’s missed with a calf injury, and Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said Tuesday that she does not have a timeline for return. As for Mack, she has yet to appear in a game this season. Kitija Laksa will continue to start for Thomas, with Lexi Held and Haley Jones playing rotation minutes off the bench.

After missing multiple games with a nose injury, Hayes returned to the Valkyries’ starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the Lynx. Unfortunately, the veteran guard reinjured her nose during the fourth quarter and did not return. If Hayes cannot play on Thursday, Stephanie Talbot is the most likely replacement in the starting lineup. No Hayes on Thursday would also result in more playing time for Cecilila Zandalasini.

After logging just over 14 minutes per game with the Sparks in 2024, Li has played even less in her first season in Seattle. The 6-foot-7 center is averaging 9.1 minutes in eight appearances, most recently playing six minutes in Tuesday’s win over the Wings. Interestingly, the draft pick sent to Seattle along with Li as part of the six-team deal headlined by Jewell Loyd and Kelsey Plum would be used to select Dominique Malonga in April’s draft. Unfortunately for the third-year WNBA veteran from China, there does not appear to be a clear path to additional playing time in Seattle, especially with Malonga, Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor also in the frontcourt rotation.

The Lynx began their game on Tuesday night lacking some energy. They trailed the Mercury 23-19 going into the second quarter, but then once the second quarter arrived as did Hiedeman who scored half of her total points in the second quarter. The backup guard used her quickness to drive and score at the basket, ran out in transition and attacked multiple closeouts the opposing defense tried to throw at her. Hiedeman has been the Mercury’s Achilles heel as of late, shooting 50 percent from three against Phoenix in two straight games, including the game winning shot on May 30.

Collier continued to shine as the Lynx’s centerpiece to their success. She faced little resistance getting to her kill zones on the floor Tuesday night as the Mercury defense allowed her to generate nine of her total 13 shots in the paint. While her three ball didn’t fall, her step through and fadeaway were on full display. What makes Collier so lethal is her ability to create space and separation from her defenders as a power forward. Collier notched her fourth straight double-double of the season in the Lynx’s commanding Commissioner’s Cup victory against Western conference foe the Mercury.