Mercury Rising With Taurasi and DeForge

The Phoenix Mercury did not have consecutive victories all last season.

Then Diana Taurasi arrived. And fellow guard Anna DeForge stepped up her game.

The two fueled an 84-76 victory over the Seattle Storm before 5,368 Friday night at Phoenix as Taurasi became the first WNBA rookie to start her career with three 20-point games. She had 22 points, and DeForge led the Mercury (2-1) with a 24 points, scoring seven in the final 1:13.

DeForge averaged 11.9 points a game last season as the leading scorer for the Mercury, which went 8-26.

Phoenix, which last won consecutive games on Aug. 7 and 11 of 2002, shot 55.4%. Sue Bird, Taurasi’s college teammate at Connecticut, led Seattle (2-1) with 22 points.

Charlotte 63, Indiana 41 -- The Fever scored a franchise low in overall points, but more concerning for Indiana (1-2) was the mild concussion suffered by Tamika Catchings at Charlotte, N.C.

Catchings, who had 15 points and eight rebounds, left the game with 2:10 remaining when she was hit in the face by Allison Feasters’ forearm in a rebounding scrum. Catching’s status for Tuesday’s game at San Antonio is uncertain.

Tammy Sutton-Brown led the Sting (2-1) with 16 points.

San Antonio 72, Sacramento 63 -- Shannon Johnson’s 15 points and 12 assists spurred the Silver Stars (3-1) at San Antonio. Yolanda Griffith’s 19 points, nine rebounds and six steals led Sacramento (1-2).

Minnesota 73, Washington 62 -- Katie Smith scored 28 points to lead the Lynx (2-2) past the Mystics (1-3) before 6,361 at Minneapolis.