Lynx aim to get revenge against depleted Phoenix

In most scenarios this might have been the first big game of the young season, an intense rivalry formed by years of competition, two of the best teams in the WNBA's Western Conference trying to make an early-season statement.

But have the Phoenix Mercury kept up its part of the bargain?

Sunday the Lynx, at 3-0 the WNBA's only undefeated team despite not having found their rhythm offensively, will play in Phoenix.

It is a matchup between teams that have represented the West in six of the past eight league Finals, including the past four. The last time the two teams played it was in the conference finals last season, when Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Penny Taylor led the Mercury past the Lynx in a deciding Game 3 victory in Phoenix.

"They're still the defending champions," Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen said after Thursday's victory over Seattle. "We were the defending champs last year and they took it."

But so much has changed.

Taurasi, the driving force for the Mercury, isn't playing this season. She accepted money from the team she plays for in Russia to take the summer off. Taylor is a free agent who has told the Mercury she likely won't play this season, either.

And Griner, the center who is an emerging force in the league, is still serving a seven-game suspension for a domestic violence incident.

So does that take some of the steam out of this rivalry game?

"No, no," Seimone Augustus said. "They are defending champions. We want to let them know the Lynx are back and we're here to take over again."

Phoenix still figures to be formidable once Griner returns and coach Sandy Brondello has had a chance to get the new starting lineup to gel.

Taylor and Taurasi have been replaced in the backcourt by veterans Monique Currie and Leilani Mitchell, who both signed as free agents. Misti Bass, a reserve last season, has been filling in at center.

But the Mercury still has one of the better forward tandems in the league in DeWanna Bonner and Candice Dupree.

Those two have led the way in scoring for the Mercury, which fell to 1-2 with Friday's loss at Indiana. Bonner is averaging 18.3 points per game and Dupree 15.7.

Despite the changes, the Lynx are still ready to atone for last year's playoffs.

"Any time you play a team of that caliber, you have to be ready to go from the start," Whalen said.