Phoenix Mercury suffer another blow with Shey Peddy injury, fall to top-seeded Las Vegas Aces

LAS VEGAS — As her teammates gathered around Phoenix starting guard Shey Peddy, who was down on the court, you had to wonder what else can happen to the Mercury this year.

No. 1 seed Las Vegas won its WNBA playoff series opener 79-63 over Phoenix on Wednesday, but an image everyone was left with was Peddy being carried off the court near the end of the third quarter after falling despite no contact. She didn't return to the game. Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard referred to it as a foot injury that will need further evaluation, but the reactions of the players and both head coaches showed a great deal of concern.

«It looked like something similar that happened to me,» said Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who missed the 2020 WNBA season with an Achilles injury. «Kind of like you plant your foot and you just drop. My prayers go out to her, and I hope it's not as serious and everything's OK. At the end of the day, this is bigger than basketball, and you want to see everyone healthy. I just felt my heart drop.»

For the Mercury and their fans, it was another gut punch in a year that has been full of them. Brittney Griner has been jailed in Russia since February, Tina Charles had a contract divorce from the team in June, Diana Taurasi has a quad injury that has kept her sidelined the past six games and Skylar Diggins-Smith stepped away from the team in the last week of the regular season for personal reasons. All were expected to be major contributors this season to the Mercury, who were WNBA runners-up last year.

Now, Peddy's injury is yet another difficult thing to deal with for the Mercury and first-year coach Nygaard.

«I don't know that anybody in this league has been dealt a tougher hand than Vanessa Nygaard,» said the Aces' Becky