Lynx update: The Lynx enter this game with three important streaks. First, Minnesota has won nine consecutive games vs. Phoenix and is in position to sweep the season series for the second season in a row. Second, the Lynx have a 15-game home winning streak dating back to last season. And third, the Lynx have a league-best six-game winning streak. A victory would put the Western Conference-leading Lynx at 14-3, their best-ever record at the season's halfway point (they were 13-4 in 2011 and 2012). Maya Moore has averaged 21.3 points in four games vs. Phoenix this season, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen have both scored in double figures in three of those games.

Mercury update: The Mercury, already shorthanded by injuries to C Brittney Griner (knee) and F Penny Taylor (knee), will also be without star guard Diana Taurasi, who will be serving a mandatory one-game suspension after picking up her seventh technical of the season in the Mercury's loss to the visiting Lynx on Sunday. Phoenix, third in the West at 9-8, has suffered half its losses against the Lynx. Phoenix has lost four of its last five with the lone victory coming at Los Angeles, where the Sparks lost at home for the first time this season.

KENT YOUNGBLOOD