We’re navigating through some uncharted territory here.

In a 78-68 loss to the Sparks at home, the Phoenix Mercury were handed their first three-game losing streak in 74 games. The Mercury fall to 15-11 (.576) on the season and 8-1 (.889) against Western Conference opponents at home.

“I think it’s a bit of everything—especially effort,” Sandy Brondello said after the game. “Obviously it’s a long season and we do rely on a lot of free plays in particular in those regards, but there’s no excuse—you just have to be the aggressor regardless if you’re missing shots; you just have to stay on your front foot. We’ve had great chemistry, so I can’t really blame it on that—we know our schemes—so it’s more about executing. It’s more about just a little mental focus going into the game.”

In spite of the loss, however, Phoenix still clinched a 2015 WNBA Playoff berth (more on this below).

Here’s what we learned from #MercVsSparks:

Loss on the Night, But the Quest to Repeat Continues 

Despite tonight’s 78-68 loss vs. Los Angeles, Phoenix still clinched with a San Antonio loss.

The Mercury (15-11, .577) are just the second team to secure a berth this season.In fact, it is the team’s 10th playoff berth in 19 seasons and their sixth in the last seven seasons.

Phoenix will look to be the first team to repeat as WNBA champions since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002, and join the Houston Comets (1997-2000) as the only teams in WNBA history to win a total of four WNBA Championships.

Back to Work  

If you’re going through difficult times, maybe the best thing to do is get back to having fun. Make things simple.

That is to say, the past few games haven’t been “fun” for the Mercury. Indeed, much of that comes from the loss, but also fatigue and effort.

“We’re down three games that we just lost in a row so everybody’s [somewhat] down,” Brittney Griner said. “We can’t go into the next game thinking about our losses. We just have to go in with confidence. Everybody needs to play how we played in the second half of this game—first half is kicking our butts.”

The Good News

Brittney Griner had her fifth 20-point scoring effort tonight of the season. Twelve of Griner’s 20 points came in the second half.

Marta Xargay recorded 7 of the 9 assists by the Mercury tonight, marking a career-high.

Despite allowing nearly 50-percent shooting from the Sparks, the Mercury still had a legitimate chance to steal the game late down by only one possession. Phoenix also missed an uncharacteristic seven free-throws and turned the ball over 15 teams.

If the Mercury can cut back on turnovers and play with some more energy on the offensive end, it should ignite a turnaround rather quickly.