The Phoenix Mercury finally had something to celebrate after a difficult stretch. Coming into their final game before the FIBA World Cup break, they had lost four straight, but a balanced offensive effort helped them cruise past the Toronto Tempo 101-69 on Saturday.
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Alyssa Thomas led the way without trying to fill DeWanna Bonner’s role by herself. Instead, she controlled the game as a playmaker, finishing with 12 assists to go with six rebounds, four points, and a steal. Her performance also pushed her season average to 8.4 assists per game, tying her with Caitlin Clark for the league lead.
Thomas was far from the only Mercury player making an impact. Six Phoenix players scored in double figures, including Sami Whitcomb, Lexi Held, and Shay Ciezki.
Bonner left the team after Phoenix was officially eliminated from playoff contention following its August 22 loss to the Atlanta Dream. General Manager Nick U’Ren and the front office agreed to a contract buyout out of respect for the veteran, allowing her to clear waivers and join a contender for what is widely expected to be the final postseason run of her 17-year career. After clearing waivers Wednesday, Bonner signed with Atlanta for the remainder of the 2026 season.
The Mercury struggled to find a win in their first three games without her. Saturday’s performance offered a different answer to the question of how Phoenix could move forward: not by replacing Bonner’s production with one player, but by spreading the offense around. Thomas created opportunities while Whitcomb, Held, Brochart, Suarez, Westbeld, and Ciezki took advantage of them.
Phoenix is already out of the playoff picture, leaving four regular-season games after the FIBA World Cup break. The challenge now is to see whether this type of balanced offense can carry over into the final stretch.
Elsewhere, the New York Liberty also closed out the pre-break schedule with a win. After losing 79-60 to the Golden State Valkyries, New York bounced back with an 85-66 victory over the Chicago Sky on Saturday, led by reserve Han Xu’s 19 points.
The result was encouraging, but Sabrina Ionescu’s night was anything but.
The Liberty star scored just two points in 23 minutes, with both coming from the free-throw line. She went 0-for-10 from the field and 0-for-3 from three-point range, marking the first time in her WNBA career that she failed to make a field goal while attempting at least 10 shots.
The problem has been building over the past few weeks. Across her last two games against the Valkyries and Sky, Ionescu is 2-for-22 from the field and 1-for-12 from three-point range, averaging just 4.2 points. She also shot 23.2% from beyond the arc throughout August.
With Ionescu sitting out the FIBA World Cup, the 17-day break gives her time to step away, get workouts in, and return with the rhythm she will need for New York’s final four regular-season games. The Liberty’s next game is against the Minnesota Lynx.
For Ionescu, though, the shooting slump is not something she appears interested in overthinking.
“It’s Not That Big of a Deal to Me”: Sabrina Ionescu Shrugs Off Historic Shooting Struggles
Despite one of the worst shooting stretches of her career, Ionescu said after the game that she and her teammates were mostly laughing about it. She pointed out that many of her misses have been shots she normally expects to make and said she trusts that they will eventually start falling again.
“I mean, we’re just kind of laughing about it,” Ionescu said. “I mean, it’s not that big of a deal to me. Um, like I know who I am. I know what I’m able to do. Um, kind of felt like the ball was allergic to the rim there for me. Like it’s literally just like toilet bowling out. I’m not really understanding. They’re not like bad misses. They’re just literally popping out. So sometimes you just got to laugh and, um, shake it off. And you know, I’m not really worried.”
Ionescu still found other ways to contribute against Chicago, finishing with five rebounds, four assists, and a block. Head coach Chris DeMarco also emphasized that her value goes beyond her scoring.
“There’s more to basketball than just scoring,” DeMarco said in the postgame press conference. “That’s why she’s been such a great player forever. It’s her ability to pass the ball, her ability to rebound. There are more ways to impact the game… the shots will come, no doubt about it. She’s a great shooter.”
The break should give Ionescu an opportunity to reset before the Liberty begin their final push toward the playoffs.
“I think it’s a good time because then you’re able to, for us that aren’t going, like, take the time, um, feel really good, get good workouts in, um, and feel really good for the last couple games before the playoffs,” Ionescu said.
New York will need her at her best once the postseason arrives. The Liberty can find ways to win without a big scoring night from their star, as Saturday showed, but a return to her normal shooting level would give them a much better chance against the league’s top teams.