By Ben York, PhoenixMercury.com
Posted: Feb. 7, 2013
In celebration of Diana Taurasi being named as the X-Factors Favorite Mercury Player of All-Time, and coinciding with the superstar entering her 10th year with the Mercury in 2013, PhoenixMercury.com has launched a special tribute series entitled, A Decade of Diana. Every Thursday starting Feb. 7 for 10 weeks, well relive Taurasis 10 best moments with the team since her arrival in 2004.
Taurasi Moment No. 10: July 27, 2007
2007 didnt exactly start out how the team wanted.
(Although, it sure ended well.)
Phoenix began the season with a pedestrian 12-10 record through 22 games; they were actually in danger of missing the playoffs altogether. However, the season started to turn in the Mercurys favor on July 22 against the Minnesota Lynx. The 106-93 win at home kicked off a historic end to the regular season as the team won 11 of their final 12 games en route to a 23-11 record (1st place in the Western Conference).
During that amazing stretch, Diana Taurasi had one of the greatest, if not improbable, game-winning shots in WNBA history.
At Chicago visiting the Sky, the game was tied at 96 with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. Penny Taylor had the ball and came off a screen set for her at the top of the key, beyond the 3-point line. A cutting Diana Taurasi came directly to the middle of the paint, looking for the ball and the game-winning shot.
Taurasi was off-balance as she caught the pass from Taylor. So off-balance, in fact, that her body was perpendicular to the basket.
It didnt matter; Taurasi made a running, off-balance hook shot while being fouled to seal the 98-96 victory, their third win in a row at the time. Taurasi finished with 26 points on 10-14 shooting (4-7 from beyond the arc), five assists, four rebounds, two steals, one block and a partridge in a pear tree.
"Sometimes you get lucky," Taurasi said after the game. "I got very lucky. [Jia Perkins] whacked my arm, I just threw it up there and the heavens were with us today."
Heres the video:
Visit PhoenixMercury.com on Thursday, Feb. 14 for the No. 9 moment in A Decade of Diana.