PHOENIX — By the time the Sky were done rocking the Mercury with a 14-4 uppercut to start the third quarter Tuesday at PHX Arena, it definitely felt like their night.
Newcomer Ariel Atkins was getting loose for easy buckets. Kia Nurse, another recent addition, was pouring in threes, a glorious sight after the veteran shooter’s 1-for-16 start to the season from long range. Point guard Courtney Vandersloot was in full command of her playmaking powers. Forward Angel Reese was in a fierce battle with Mercury star Alyssa Thomas, one of the WNBA’s most physical players, and holding her own quite well.
With all that, the Sky led 58-42 — a 16-point advantage, in case you were struggling with the math — and a first victory of this season was hanging right there in front of them, almost close enough to reach out and touch it, feel it, maybe even grab it.
What could go wrong?
But you know how that goes.
Enter a bonkers 12-for-18 three-point binge in the second half for the Mercury (4-1), who caught and passed the Sky (0-4) early in the fourth quarter of a 94-89 win.
Thomas, basketball’s most intimidating point-forward, repeatedly freight-trained straight at Reese and into the heart of the defense before kicking the ball out to open, eager shooters. Had the game lasted another couple of hours, perhaps a Sky close-out would’ve arrived on time.
But the seriously flawed Sky — one of only two winless teams left in the league, Connecticut being the other — have yet to kick in even adequately on defense. They can’t seem to stop turning the ball over, either, and they definitely haven’t been able to hold a lead of any size.
Lots of new pieces on the roster, a new coach and an extremely tough stretch of opponents to begin the season was always going to present a challenge. And it has, probably to a higher degree than anyone on the Sky saw coming.
“It comes a time when the moral victories are [over],” coach Tyler Marsh said. “But I know we’re still keeping our heads high.”
And now come back-to-back games against the Wings and No. 1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers, who started 0-4 themselves before ridding themselves of the stench of winlessness with a 109-87 romp over the hapless Sun. The teams meet Thursday at Wintrust Arena and Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Beating the Wings twice would completely turn around the feel of the early season. Losing to them twice, on the other hand, would equal all-out disaster. An 0-4 start already equals the worst in Sky history.
No, it pretty much has to be winning time.
“Obviously, we’re not satisfied,” Reese said. “A lot of us are winners. All of us are winners. We want to win.”
Atkins’ 21 points against the Mercury were a nice step forward. Nurse’s four three-point makes — giving her 300 for her WNBA career — were a needed breakthrough. As Reese’s productivity waned in the fourth quarter, center Kamilla Cardoso amped up her energy and effectiveness at the offensive end, another positive sign.
No one is saying this has been all bad. And there’s at least a decent chance it’ll soon get better in the manner only winning games can reveal.
“Yeah, we’re on the right track,” Nurse said. “I feel excited about it, and I still feel very excited to be on this team.”
Atkins, the Mystics’ leading scorer last season, is a two-time All-Star and has been first- or second-team All-Defense five times. She scored 36 points in a game last season. The more she taps into all that, the better.
“We’ve just got to keep fighting, honestly, and continue to get better and stick together,” Atkins said. “It would be too easy to just kind of fold and be like, ‘Aw, man.’ This season’s so long. We’re three games, four games into the season? We’re not going to fold.”
Four consecutive opponents have topped 90 points against the Sky. Here’s a wild idea: How about not letting it get to five?
“Obviously, we see we can score,” Reese said. “Everybody, from top to bottom, we can see we can score. We’ve just got to defend. And once we [do] that, we’ll be great.”
There are a whole bunch of stops on this train ride to “great.” The first one is — you guessed it — winning a game.
“I think we’re all hungry,” Reese said. “We believe in each other, which is the most important thing.”
