On the final game of a three-game road trip where the Mercury played three games in four days, Phoenix fell to Minnesota 71-61.

The Mercury out-played the Lynx in the first half, but Minnesota locked down defensively in the second half holding Phoenix to just 22 total points in the third and fourth quarters combined.

Remarkably, the Mercury had 16 fewer shot-attempts than the Lynx.

Here are the takeaways from #MercAtLynx:

The Little Things  

It sounds cliche, but the Lynx seemed to do the little things better in Sunday’s game — including the always-significant “hustle plays” that aren’t necessarily quantifiable.

The ones that are measurable, though, certainly went the Lynx’s way. Minnesota out-rebounded Phoenix 41-28, and forced the Mercury into just 42 percent shooting and 18 percent from beyond the arc.

The Mercury had just three players in double figures: Dupree (14), Bonner (15) and Griner (13).

Brittney Griner Doing Brittney Griner Things    

Mercury center Brittney Griner came into Sunday’s game with 91 blocked shots in just 22 games this season — an average of 4.14 for the highest in the WNBA.

After 9 blocks on Sunday against the Lynx, she now has 100 blocked shots. Amazingly, that total is now more than three WNBA teams have this season (Seattle – 92, Connecticut – 80, Indiana – 73).

In addition to her blocks, Griner finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Back to Basics

After three games in four days, the Mercury play their final four games in fourteen days.

The rest and time in between games should help with fatigue, but there’s no doubt Brondello will make the necessary adjustments to get the team back on track.