WNBA FINALS: PHOENIX VS. CHICAGO

October 15, 2021

Diana Taurasi

Skylar Diggins-Smtih

Bria Hartley

Phoenix Mercury

Game 3: Postgame

Sky 86, Mercury 50

Q. On a night like this, not just you shooting but the entire team kind of struggling from the field, is this one of those nights where you liked the looks and it just didn't go down, or was it something they were doing specifically defensively?

DIANA TAURASI: Yeah, I think we can take the easy way out and say that or we can really look at the mirror at ourselves and make sure we come with a little bit more intent in the next game. But you know, it would have been nice to make a couple shots here and there as a group. It is the game of basketball. It's just about putting the ball in the hole, and today we just didn't do that at a very efficient clip.

I think there was obviously different circumstances that that's why that happened.

Q. Diana, you've been in this position before where you have to come back from a tough game. Sandy talked about just sort of flushing this game, but how do you respond emotionally and what do you tell your teammates?

DIANA TAURASI: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day it's just one loss. You lose by 40, you lose by one, it's one game.

But there has to be a sense of urgency, obviously, in the next game, of playing with more intent. Today we didn't do that.

Q. Skylar, what is making Kahleah Copper such a difficult matchup for you guys on the defensive end?

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH: Yeah, she's been a hard matchup for everybody this year. She's improved. She's great at -- she likes to baseline drive. She has a quick first step. I think she has improved her three-point shot this year. It makes you have to put a hand up on that, as well. I think they do a good job of putting her in positions to iso, and when she's going downhill, she's a good finisher at the rim.

Q. Diana, you said the circumstances were different tonight; could you elaborate on that?

DIANA TAURASI: Yeah, obviously you've got to give credit where credit is due. Chicago came out and played aggressive. We knew they were going to. They flood the ball hard on on-balls, and we just didn't do a good job of handling it and getting out of it.

When you get to this point in a series, all the teams know each other. You all know each other's plays, and it's just as a unit and as a group, can you buckle down and do that really well. Today we just didn't do that. That's disappointing, but at the same time, this team has been resilient all year when faced with challenges.

We're excited to get Game 4 going.

Q. Skylar, just last week you guys had a fairly lopsided loss in Game 4, came back to win Game 5 against Vegas. Does that experience give you the confidence to know that you just did this quick turnaround, you can flip the script and win the next game?

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH: Yeah, I think D said it. All year we've faced adversity, and we have a veteran group. We'll go back and look at it and see what changes we can make. We don't have a choice. We've got to win. We have to win from here on out. We understand that. It's going to be a lot to digest. Tomorrow we'll go back, look at the film, see where we can make changes and that's it. That's what we're going to do.

We're a mature group. We're going to come out with a different mindset next game, and we're desperate. We've got to win.

Q. Skylar and Diana, can you become focused too much on trying to get the ball to Brittney sometimes, and the offense isn't diverse enough when that happens?

DIANA TAURASI: Yeah, it's always a game of balance. We always know BG is the mismatch for any team. I mean, that's clear. There has to be a healthy balance of obviously getting BG involved early and often, and then also being able to stay aggressive on the perimeter and make sure to keep the defense honest. But today, honestly, nothing worked, inside, outside. They really just took us out of everything we wanted to run. I think that was probably the key to the game.

Q. Bria, it seems like at times this season where when you guys weren't making your three-pointers, there were open looks that weren't falling. At least from my point of view, it looks like Chicago is making those shots more difficult. Is that something you feel like those threes maybe aren't falling because they're tighter spaces?

BRIA HARTLEY: Maybe sometimes we're fighting against a shot clock at the end in a rush. I think sometimes we actually have good shots and we're not knocking them down. It comes down to stepping up and hitting shots. We shot 25 percent from three, so you don't want to shoot that bad.

Q. Skylar, after a game like tonight, do you guys typically go back and watch film and regroup, or do you focus more on yourselves? Also, what will be a point of emphasis for you guys going into Game 4?

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH: Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both. Like I said earlier, we've got to see what it looked like and what changes we can make. Obviously, with the quick turnaround, that's how we've got to do it. We've got to look at a lot of film and see where we can make the adjustments.

But you charge it to the game, a game like this. You charge it to the game. Like D said, it was one game, it was ugly as hell. They were the aggressors. Give them all the credit, and let's play on Sunday. That's all we can really do. We can't get too high about it. We didn't lose the series tonight. We've got another opportunity, and that's what this team historically, that's where we thrive, when we have an opportunity to get it out of the mud, our backs against the wall, playing on the road. We've got to bring it. This is what you want. This is why we play the game. We play it on the floor. Charge it to the game tonight. They kicked our ass and now we've got to come back and respond. That's all I've got to say.

Q. The team scored a total of 50 points in the loss --

DIANA TAURASI: 50?

Q. Can we expect a much better offensive --

DIANA TAURASI: Well, I hope so. We can't be any worse than 50, buddy. We'll be better. We'll be better than 50. Go to Vegas with that one.