Mercury miss playoffs, ending WNBA's longest active streak - ESPN

The Phoenix Mercury were eliminated from postseason contention Sunday with a 77-74 loss to the Dallas Wings, snapping what had been the league's longest active streak of playoff appearances (10 straight seasons).

The last time the Mercury missed the playoffs was 2012, when Diana Taurasi played only eight games due to injury and Penny Taylor missed the entire year after tearing her ACL in the offseason. Brittney Griner was drafted the following spring.

The Mercury's postseason streak was tied for the second longest in WNBA history. The Lynx made the playoffs 11 straight seasons from 2011-21.

Also on Sunday, the Seattle Storm saw their streak of consecutive playoff appearances (2016-22) broken with their loss to the Chicago Sky. The longest active streak of postseason berths now belongs to the Connecticut Sun (2017-23).

«It was a season that was not ideal,» interim coach Nikki Blue said of what went wrong for the Mercury. «However, we still have a couple games left, so our season is not over yet. Although we might miss the playoffs this year, we still are going to focus on winning these next couple games.»

It's been a disappointing year for the Mercury, who fired coach Vanessa Nygaard midway through her second season following a 2-10 start. Franchise stars Griner and Taurasi have appeared in only 25 game apiece, while several players have sat at least a handful of games due to injury. Perennial All-Star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith was also out the entire season while on pregnancy/maternity leave.

Griner — who missed all of last season while she was detained in Russia for 10 months — played Sunday after missing a week due to health and safety protocols. Taurasi has been out since Aug. 20 with a toe injury. And Sophie