Phoenix visits Connecticut, looks to stop road slide

Phoenix Mercury (12-18, 6-10 Western Conference) at Connecticut Sun (21-10, 11-6 Eastern Conference)

Uncasville, Connecticut; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Phoenix will aim to break its five-game road skid when the Mercury visit Connecticut.

The Sun have gone 11-5 at home. Connecticut is second in the Eastern Conference scoring 85.2 points while shooting 46.0% from the field.

The Mercury are 4-13 on the road. Phoenix is third in the Western Conference giving up 83.0 points while holding opponents to 44.6% shooting.

The teams meet for the third time this season. In the last meeting on Aug. 2 the Sun won 87-63 led by 16 points from Natisha Hiedeman, while Sophie Cunningham scored 15 points for the Mercury.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alyssa Thomas is averaging 13.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.7 steals for the Sun. Jonquel Jones is averaging 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds over the past 10 games for Connecticut.

Skylar Diggins-Smith is shooting 42.6% and averaging 19.3 points for the Mercury. Cunningham is averaging 3.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Phoenix.

LAST 10 GAMES: Sun: 7-3, averaging 86.5 points, 36.4 rebounds, 21.7 assists, 8.8 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.9 points per game.

Mercury: 4-6, averaging 81.2 points, 31.5 rebounds, 19.1 assists, 9.5 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 41.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 87.4 points.

INJURIES: Sun: Jasmine Thomas: out for season (knee), Bria Hartley: out for season (knee).

Mercury: Kia Nurse: out (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.