Sun vs. Mercury: Brittney Griner Blocks Kelsey Plum at the Buzzer to Seal Connecticut's 75-72 Comeback

Down three, no timeouts, 12.9 seconds left. Kelsey Plum already had 25 points and had spent the previous four minutes single-handedly refusing to let Phoenix go away. She got to the top of the key and went up for the 3 that would have tied it, and there was Brittney Griner, playing against her former team and showing zero interest in a reunion.

The block sealed a 75-72 Connecticut Sun win over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night, finishing a comeback from 16 down on an evening that had started with the Sun retiring Alyssa Thomas' No. 25. Thomas wore it for 11 years in Connecticut. She spent the rest of the night in a Phoenix uniform, and the Sun made sure the tribute stopped at the jersey.

Phoenix Showed Up to Ruin the Party, Then Forgot How

For a half, the Mercury looked ready to spoil the whole evening. They scored 27 in the first quarter, and a 9-0 run in the second stretched the lead to 36-20. The Sun answered with eight straight of their own before the break, and it was 40-32 at halftime, close enough to keep 8,910 at Mohegan Sun Arena in their seats.

Then Phoenix's offense went missing. Connecticut opened the third on an 11-4 run to get within 44-43, and Leila Lacan and company kept coming until the Sun took their first lead of the night at 47-46 with 3:05 left in the quarter. The Mercury scored nine points in the entire period. It was 49-49 going to the fourth.

Phoenix pushed back in front at 61-56 before Connecticut scored eight straight in a little over a minute. From there it turned into a shot-for-shot standoff. Plum hit a 14-foot fadeaway and then two free throws to put Phoenix up 65-64 with 3:27 left, its last lead of the night. Diamond Miller answered with a 24-foot 3, and Aaliyah Edwards scored off a Miller pass to make it 69-65. Plum hit from 25 feet. Kennedy Burke hit from 27. Kahleah Copper drove to make it 72-70.

Lacan made one of two at the line with 32.2 seconds left, Plum floated one in at 20.3 to get within 73-72, and Lacan came back to hit both with 12.9 to go. That set up Griner's final word.

A Bench Win With a Very Famous Closer

Connecticut did not have a starter reach double figures. Burke led the way off the bench with 15 on 5-of-7 shooting, and Edwards added 14 points and eight rebounds on the same 5-of-7 line. Lacan and Miller each scored nine, and Miller made hers count at the end with that 3 and the assist on Edwards' layup. Saniya Rivers added four points and four assists, and Hailey Van Lith hit for six in 14 minutes.

Griner's line looks modest on paper: five points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 24 minutes. Sometimes the box score just does not know which block mattered.

Plum was the best player on the floor for long stretches, shooting 9 of 16 and scoring nine of Phoenix's final 11 points. It would have been the story of the night if not for the last play. Copper added 16 on 6-of-15 shooting. Thomas had the night of emotional whiplash, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals but going just 4 of 10 at the line in a game Phoenix lost by three. DeWanna Bonner grabbed 11 rebounds but went 3 of 12 from the field and 0 of 6 from deep.

Nine Points in 10 Minutes

Griner gets the headline, but the third quarter gets the credit. The AP has Phoenix shooting 4 of 16 in the period, including 0 of 6 from 3, with three turnovers. Connecticut did not exactly catch fire, scoring 17, but it did not need to. The Mercury's eight-point halftime cushion disappeared with barely any drama, and a Phoenix road win that looked comfortable at the half became a coin flip. Everything Plum did in the fourth was an attempt to pay off a debt run up in those 10 minutes.

Stats That Matter

• Bench points: Connecticut 39, Phoenix 9.
• Third quarter: Connecticut 17, Phoenix 9.
• Free throws: Phoenix went 13 of 23 in a three-point loss. Enough said.
• 3-pointers: Phoenix went 5 of 28. Plum made 3 of 7, which leaves everyone else at 2 of 21.
• Turnovers: Connecticut committed 18 to Phoenix's 11 and won anyway, which shows how much the Mercury left on the table.

A Rare Good Night in a Long Goodbye

Connecticut improved to 8-23 overall and 5-10 at home, and the win snapped a five-game losing streak. The team says it also clinched the season series 2-1 and moved to 37-27 all time against Phoenix. The Sun host Atlanta on Thursday.

Phoenix fell to 12-21 and 7-11 on the road after back-to-back losses, the first a 96-82 result in Atlanta on Wednesday. The Mercury are at Washington on Sunday, and they will need a lot more than one guard's fourth quarter.

The context around all of this is hard to ignore. The AP notes the franchise is moving to Houston next year, which is why the Sun have spent the season honoring former greats and coaches. Friday was Thomas' turn, and it came with exactly the kind of ending a farewell season is supposed to produce.

Not in This House, for One More Year

Every team gets to say not in my house at some point. It just reads differently when the house has an expiration date. Griner's block was the best kind of goodbye-tour moment: a former Mercury star, in a building that is running out of nights, sending one last shot back the way it came while the woman whose number had just been retired stood on the wrong side of it. If the Sun have to leave, at least they are going out with a few good encores.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press and the Connecticut Sun.