L.A. crushed Phoenix, turning a ten-point halftime lead into a second-half rout. Lisa Leslie almost picked up a triple-double (21 points, 11 boards, 9 assists) even though she was recovering from a groin injury and from a migraine.

Leslie: "This is probably the first week I felt I had both legs underneath me.... I'm still wrapping [the right leg]; I'm afraid to play without it. Now we're at this point of am I healthy enough or am I not? I still have a pain level."

Taurasi discovered her own pain level after shooting 1-12-- shades of Notre Dame '01. As in past losses, the Mercury fell in love with the jump shot, and mostly couldn't or wouldn't feed the post. Stepanova, in her first WNBA game since '01, looked neither superb, nor out of place: Vodichkova (16 points, 6-10 shooting) became their only effective player for much of the game.