A Mercury Loss on a Night Bigger Than Basketball

The Phoenix Mercury wanted to send Diana Taurasi home with one more victory.

Instead, the Portland Fire spoiled the ending.

Phoenix fell 88-85 to Portland on August 16, 2026, at Mortgage Matchup Center, but this was no ordinary WNBA regular-season game. The scoreboard told one story. The No. 3 hanging permanently above the court told another.

This was Diana Taurasi’s night.

More than two decades after the Phoenix Mercury selected Taurasi with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, the franchise officially retired the number that became synonymous with Mercury basketball.

Taurasi’s No. 3 went into the rafters as she was inducted into the Phoenix Mercury Ring of Honor, putting the finishing touch on one of the greatest careers in basketball history.

The Mercury could not provide the storybook victory, but even an 88-85 loss couldn't take away from what Phoenix witnessed.

One of the greatest athletes in Arizona sports history came home to receive her flowers.

Phoenix Mercury Let Fourth-Quarter Lead Slip Away

The Mercury appeared capable of making Taurasi’s celebration complete.

Phoenix jumped ahead 22-18 after the opening quarter before taking a 42-36 advantage into halftime. Portland began cutting into that lead during the third quarter, but the Mercury still carried a 64-61 advantage into the final period.

Then everything changed.

Portland outscored Phoenix 27-21 in the fourth quarter and made the critical plays when the game tightened late.

Carla Leite helped ignite the comeback and scored the final two baskets of a 6-0 Portland run that pushed the Fire ahead 81-80.

The Mercury continued fighting.

Kahleah Copper and Emily Engstler exchanged baskets before Katie Lou Samuelson made one of two free throws, leaving Phoenix within striking distance.

Then Bridget Carleton delivered perhaps Portland's biggest defensive play of the night.

Carleton blocked Copper's attempt and grabbed the rebound with approximately 12 seconds remaining. After Phoenix was forced to foul, Carleton converted both free throws and stretched Portland's advantage to four.

Alyssa Thomas wasn't finished.

Thomas buried a three-pointer to keep Phoenix alive, but Carleton returned to the free-throw line and knocked down two more to seal Portland's 88-85 victory.

Phoenix had led after each of the first three quarters.

Portland led when it mattered most.

The loss dropped the Mercury to 13-23 while Portland improved to 15-20.

DeWanna Bonner Leads Phoenix Against Portland

DeWanna Bonner delivered one of her strongest offensive performances of the night for Phoenix, finishing with 23 points and six rebounds while knocking down four three-pointers.

Kahleah Copper added 19 points and seven rebounds, while Alyssa Thomas came within one assist of a triple-double.
Thomas finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, once again demonstrating how many different ways she can impact a basketball game.

Portland received a huge performance from Carla Leite, who finished with 23 points and five assists while shooting 9-of-15 from the field. Megan DiLeo contributed another 15 points.

But while those numbers explain how Portland escaped Phoenix with a victory, they don't explain what made August 16 special.

For that, you had to look above the court.

Diana Taurasi’s No. 3 Officially Retired by Phoenix Mercury

There are numbers on jerseys.

Then there are numbers that become identities.

In Phoenix, No. 3 belongs to Diana Taurasi.

Forever.

The Mercury officially retired Taurasi's No. 3 and inducted her into the franchise's Ring of Honor, ensuring no future Phoenix Mercury player will wear the number associated with the greatest player in franchise history.

Taurasi joined Michele Timms, Penny Taylor, Jennifer Gillom, Bridget Pettis and Cheryl Miller among those receiving the Mercury's highest franchise honor.

The moment represented far more than honoring a great basketball player.

It represented the relationship between a superstar, a franchise and a city that grew together for more than two decades.

Taurasi was joined by friends and family, including her wife and fellow Mercury legend Penny Taylor and their children.
An emotional Taurasi reflected on what Phoenix had meant to her throughout her life and career.

“This place has made me who I am,” Taurasi told the crowd.

That statement may explain Taurasi's Phoenix legacy better than any statistic ever could.

Because Phoenix didn't simply watch Taurasi become great.

Phoenix watched Taurasi grow up.

The city saw the championships, three-pointers and celebrations.

It also witnessed the injuries, technical fouls, frustration, trash talking, defeats and comebacks.

Phoenix got the entire Diana Taurasi experience.

And on August 16, the city finally had an opportunity to say thank you.

A Sellout Crowd Celebrates Diana Taurasi

The announced attendance at Mortgage Matchup Center was 16,513.

A sellout.

Fans poured into downtown Phoenix wearing No. 3 jerseys and celebrating a player who had been part of Arizona's sports landscape since 2004.

The atmosphere demonstrated something statistics cannot adequately measure.

Taurasi didn't simply play basketball in Phoenix.

She became part of Phoenix.

Her career stretched across generations of Mercury fans. Kids who watched Taurasi arrive as a rookie became adults who eventually brought their own children to Mercury games.

Twenty seasons with one franchise created something increasingly rare in professional sports.

Continuity.

Taurasi was Phoenix Mercury basketball.

Phoenix Creates 10466 Taurasi Way

The jersey retirement wasn't the only permanent tribute.

Phoenix also honored Taurasi by designating the street outside Mortgage Matchup Center as 10466 Taurasi Way.

The number carries enormous significance.

Taurasi finished her WNBA career with 10,646 points.

It's one of the most important numbers in women's basketball history because Taurasi retired as the WNBA's all-time leading scorer.

Now those five digits are part of the landscape surrounding the arena where she created so many unforgettable moments.

Phoenix also celebrated Taurasi through a downtown mural and community basketball courts renovated through the Suns/Mercury Foundation.

Her legacy already lives inside the Mercury's practice facility as well, where the Diana Taurasi Courts recognize the player who changed the franchise forever.

This wasn't simply a jersey retirement.

Phoenix placed Taurasi's fingerprints throughout the city.

Diana Taurasi’s Historic Phoenix Mercury Career

To understand the magnitude of the ceremony, you have to understand what Diana Taurasi accomplished.

The Phoenix Mercury selected Taurasi first overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft following her legendary college career at UConn.

What followed was a relationship lasting 20 WNBA seasons.

Taurasi played her entire WNBA career for the Phoenix Mercury, establishing a league record for seasons spent with one franchise.

She appeared in 565 regular-season games and averaged 18.8 points, 4.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.

But those numbers barely scratch the surface.

Taurasi wasn't merely productive.

She was historically productive.

She was also at her best when championships were at stake.

Diana Taurasi Led Phoenix Mercury to Three WNBA Championships

Championship banners tell the story.

Phoenix won WNBA championships in 2007, 2009 and 2014 with Taurasi at the center of everything.

She helped lead the Mercury to four WNBA Finals appearances and was named WNBA Finals MVP twice, earning the honor in 2009 and 2014.

Taurasi also captured the 2009 WNBA Most Valuable Player Award.

Her professional dominance started almost immediately.

She was named WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2004 and eventually earned 11 WNBA All-Star selections and 14 All-WNBA selections.

That's what separates an excellent career from a legendary one.

Taurasi wasn't dominant for a few seasons.

She remained one of the defining players in women's basketball for two decades.

Diana Taurasi’s 10,646 Points Changed WNBA History

Of all Taurasi's accomplishments, one number towers above nearly everything else.

10,646.

That's how many regular-season points Diana Taurasi scored during her WNBA career.

She retired as the WNBA's all-time leading scorer and became the first player in league history to reach 10,000 career points.

Taurasi finished her career with 3,341 made field goals, 1,447 three-pointers and 2,517 made free throws.

She also recorded 2,394 assists.

But the way Taurasi crossed the 10,000-point barrier was almost perfectly scripted.

She didn't crawl across the milestone.

She exploded through it.

At 41 years old, Taurasi scored 42 points on the night she became the first player in WNBA history to reach 10,000.

Forty-two points.

At 41.

That's Diana Taurasi.

Six Olympic Gold Medals Add to Taurasi’s Legacy

Taurasi's basketball résumé extends far beyond the WNBA.

She was also one of the greatest players in the history of USA Basketball.

Taurasi won Olympic gold medals in Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Tokyo in 2021 after the pandemic-delayed 2020 Games, and Paris in 2024.

Six trips to the Olympics.

Six gold medals.

The Mercury notes that Taurasi became the only team-sport athlete in Olympic history to accumulate six gold medals.

Think about the longevity required to accomplish that.

Her first Olympic gold came the same year Phoenix drafted her.

Her sixth came two decades later.

Diana Taurasi Was a Champion Before Reaching Phoenix

Taurasi didn't arrive in Phoenix needing to learn how to win.

Winning was already part of her identity.

At UConn, Taurasi helped the Huskies capture three consecutive NCAA national championships from 2002 through 2004.

She won major individual awards, including two Naismith College Player of the Year honors, and became one of the defining players of Connecticut's women's basketball dynasty.

Then she entered the WNBA Draft.

Phoenix owned the first pick.

The Mercury selected Taurasi.

Women's basketball in Arizona was never the same again.

Why Diana Taurasi Became a Phoenix Sports Icon

Statistics explain greatness.

Personality creates legends.

Taurasi had plenty of both.

She talked trash.

She challenged opponents.

She took huge shots.

She played with emotion.

She argued with officials.

She collected technical fouls.

She laughed.

She competed.

And she never seemed particularly interested in changing who she was to make anyone else comfortable.

That authenticity helped establish the connection between Taurasi and Mercury fans.

There were cleaner players.

There were quieter superstars.

There may never be another Diana Taurasi.

One of the most famous examples of her personality came during a 2013 game against Minnesota when Taurasi and Seimone Augustus became involved in a physical confrontation.

Shoulders bumped. Emotions rose.

Then Taurasi kissed Augustus on the cheek.

It remains one of those wonderfully strange WNBA moments that somehow makes perfect sense when Diana Taurasi is involved.

Competitiveness and humor existed simultaneously.

That's part of what Phoenix loved.

One Player, One Franchise, One City

Professional sports don't produce many stories like this anymore.

Superstars leave.

Teams rebuild.

Contracts expire.

Players chase better opportunities.

Taurasi stayed.

From the moment Phoenix selected her in 2004 until her final WNBA season in 2024, every professional WNBA basket Taurasi scored belonged to the Mercury.

Every one of those 10,646 points came wearing Phoenix across her chest.

Every WNBA championship came with the Mercury.

Every Finals appearance.

Every devastating loss.

Every technical foul.

Every ridiculous three-pointer.

Every clutch moment.

Phoenix experienced all of it.

That's why August 16 wasn't simply a retirement ceremony.

It was the closing of a chapter in Arizona sports history.

The Cruel Irony of the Mercury’s 88-85 Loss

There was also an unavoidable irony surrounding the game itself.

Phoenix spent the evening celebrating one of basketball's greatest closers.

Then the Mercury couldn't close.

Phoenix led after the first quarter.

Phoenix led at halftime.

Phoenix led entering the fourth quarter.

The opportunity was sitting there.

Beat Portland.

Celebrate Taurasi.

Raise No. 3.

Send 16,513 fans into downtown Phoenix with the perfect ending.

Portland refused to follow the script.

The Fire scored 27 points in the fourth quarter, made the critical defensive plays and converted the free throws necessary to leave Phoenix with an 88-85 victory.

It wasn't the ending Mercury fans wanted.

But maybe that's sports.

The ceremony could be planned.

The videos could be produced.

The jersey could be prepared.

The street could be renamed.

The speeches could be written.

Nobody could script the basketball game.

The Score Will Fade. No. 3 Won’t.

Years from now, very few people will immediately remember who won the Phoenix Mercury-Portland Fire game on August 16, 2026.

The box score will always show it.

Portland 88.

Phoenix 85.

But that's unlikely to be what 16,513 people remember.

They'll remember Diana Taurasi walking onto the court.

They'll remember the videos.

They'll remember the cheers.

They'll remember the emotions.

They'll remember Taurasi standing with her family.

They'll remember looking toward the rafters.

And they'll remember seeing TAURASI 3 hanging above the court.

That's the real story of August 16.

The Phoenix Mercury lost a basketball game.

Phoenix celebrated a legend.

Diana Taurasi gave the Mercury 20 seasons, 10,646 points, three WNBA championships and countless moments that helped define women's basketball in Arizona.

Now the city has given something back.

A place in the Ring of Honor.

A street bearing the number of her historic scoring total.

And a No. 3 that will never belong to another Phoenix Mercury player.

The final buzzer sounded on Portland's 88-85 victory.

But Diana Taurasi's No. 3 isn't going anywhere.

​It's home.

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Phoenix Mercury Fall 95-75 to Washington Mystics as Losing Streak Continues 

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