Phoenix Mercury (14-26, 8-11 Western Conference) at Portland Fire (16-24, 6-13 Western Conference)
Portland, Oregon; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT
LINE: Mercury -1.5; over/under is 175.5
BOTTOM LINE: Portland Fire hosts Phoenix Mercury looking to break its three-game home slide.
The Fire are 6-13 in Western Conference games. Portland is 8-16 against opponents with a winning record.
The Mercury's record in Western Conference action is 8-11. Phoenix has a 6-19 record against teams above .500.
Portland is shooting 45.2% from the field this season, 1.1 percentage points lower than the 46.3% Phoenix allows to opponents. Phoenix averages 7.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 fewer made shots on average than the 9.1 per game Portland gives up.
The teams square off for the third time this season. The Fire won 88-85 in the last meeting on Aug. 16. Carla Leite led the Fire with 23 points, and Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 19 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bridget Carleton is averaging 14.3 points and 1.6 steals for the Fire. Megan Gustafson is averaging 14.5 points over the last 10 games.
Alyssa Thomas is averaging 14.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists for the Mercury. Copper is averaging 20.5 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 46.7% over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Fire: 5-5, averaging 87.7 points, 32.6 rebounds, 20.4 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 88.0 points per game.
Mercury: 3-7, averaging 86.1 points, 32.3 rebounds, 21.8 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 88.4 points.
INJURIES: Fire: Sarah Ashlee Barker: out for season (knee), Sania Feagin: out for season (knee).
Mercury: Kahleah Copper: day to day (ankle), Kelsey Plum: out for season (leg).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
