PHOENIX — Brittney Griner shook off two blows to the face to finish with 19 points, Diana Taurasi added 18 and the Phoenix Mercury made it two straight routs in the WNBA Finals with a 97-68 win over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night.
PHOENIX — Brittney Griner shook off two blows to the face to finish with 19 points, Diana Taurasi added 18 and the Phoenix Mercury made it two straight routs in the WNBA Finals with a 97-68 win over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night.
The underdog Sky were far more aggressive after being blown out in Game 1, fighting Phoenix for every inch early on while leaving Griner with a scratch on her eye and a bloody mouth.
Griner and her teammates shrugged it off, running away from Chicago with a 15-2 run in the second quarter and grabbing a firm hold on the best-of-five series.
Game 3 is Friday in Chicago, where the Sky will have to find some way of slowing the rising Mercury, who shot 56 percent.
Elena Delle Donne led the Sky with 22 points after playing 11 minutes in Game 1 because of a lower-back pain.
DeWanna Bonner had 15 points for Phoenix, and Penny Taylor scored 14. Griner blocked four shots after setting a finals record with eight in the opener.
Griner got the worst of the Sky’s physical play midway through the first quarter, when Sylvia Fowles inadvertently hit her on the right eye while fighting for a rebound.
Griner lay on the floor for several seconds and appeared to have trouble seeing before going to the bench with a scratch across her eyelid.