In the first meeting between the Mercury and Dream this season, Phoenix came back from a 13-point deficit to win the game.

In Atlanta Sunday afternoon, however, the Mercury were actually up by nearly 20 points only to see the Dream make the amazing comeback this time.

Fortunately for Phoenix, Candice Dupree had her best game of the season (more on that below) as the Mercury beat the Dream 71-68 (sweeping the season series) while also tallying their third consecutive win.

Phoenix is now 12-7 on the year and finished their road trip 2-0.

Here’s what we learned from #MercAtDream:

Candice Dupree’s Stellar Play   

If Candice Dupree doesn’t have the ridiculously efficient night that she had, the Mercury simply do not win this game.

Dupree finished with 27 points, six boards and three steals on 8-of-11 shooting.

CanDu accounted for nearly 40-percent of the Mercury’s points, and was one of only three Mercury players in double-figures (Monique Currie – 14, Leilani Mitchell – 10).

Furthermore, Dupree’s huge effort offensively helped alleviate uncharacteristic shooting nights from DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner who finished with 4 and 9 points respectively.

BG’s Blocks Continue to Impress    

Mercury center Brittney Griner currently leads the WNBA in total blocked shots with 53 despite playing in just 12 games this season.

Her average of 4.36 blocks per game is 1.82 blocks more than Kiah Stokes (44 blk/18 g) of New York who ranks second in the league.

Griner finished with five blocks against Atlanta, and has three games this season with seven blocked shots.

Gutting it Out on the Road

We know the Mercury is a gritty team; they’ve shown that repeatedly this season.

After all, Phoenix has had three comebacks this year of 10 or more points. They trailed by 13 points to Atlanta on July 14, 19 points to Chicago last week and 12 points to Tulsa on Thursday and came back to win all three.

In Sunday’s game against the Dream, it was somewhat of a reversal of fortunes. This time, it was Phoenix who was up with a comfortable lead only to see the Dream make an impressive comeback.

The Mercury, however, never let Atlanta re-take the lead.

It’s a glass-full/glass-empty scenario, but kudos to the Mercury for staying resilient against a desperate Dream team at home.