2007 WNBA Finals
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The 2007 WNBA Finals was the championship
series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...
of the
2007 WNBA season The 2007 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's 11th season. On January 3, 2007 The Charlotte Sting folded. Three months later on April 4, the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA held their annual draft in Clevelan ...
, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The
Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...
, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the
Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. ...
, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, three games to two in a best-of-five series. This was Phoenix's first ever professional basketball title. 2007 marked the first time in WNBA history that the series was won on the opponent's home floor. The Mercury beat the Shock in Detroit. The Shock made their third appearance in the Finals in five years. The Mercury appeared in the Finals for the second time since in franchise history. Going into the series, the Shock had won two championships, tied with the
Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...
for second most in WNBA history. The now defunct
Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...
hold the record with four championships won. The Shock's 24–10 record gave them
home court advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...
over Phoenix (23–11). It did not matter, however, as the Mercury won game five on the Shock's home floor and became champions of the WNBA.


Road to the finals


Regular season series

The
Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. ...
won both games in the regular season series:


Game summaries

All times listed below are
Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
.


Game 1

The Detroit Shock shook off the absence of their interior star Cheryl Ford and held off the run-and-gun Phoenix Mercury in a wild 108–100 victory in Game 1 of the WNBA finals. Detroit outrebounded Phoenix 48-30 and scored often on putbacks and other high-percentage shots. The Shock's bench outscored Phoenix's 50–12.
Penny Taylor Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. ...
scored 32 points and
Cappie Pondexter Cappie Marie Pondexter (born January 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. She was born in Oceanside, California and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Pondexter is known for her scrappy play, quick crossovers and midrange ju ...
had 27 to lead the Mercury, who struggled when All-Star
Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...
missed significant stretches of the game with foul trouble. Taurasi, who averaged 20 points in the Mercury's first four playoff games and 25 during the regular season, was held scoreless in the first half. She scored a quick nine points in the third before being whistled for a loose ball foul with 5:37 to go in the quarter. The contact on Detroit's
Katie Smith Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional basketball player, Smith's prima ...
resulted in Taurasi's fifth foul and she sat on the bench for the remainder of the quarter. Taurasi fouled out with two minutes remaining in the game. She finished with 10 points in 22 minutes.


Game 2

Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...
bounced back from her woeful Game 1 with 30 points to help the Mercury even the five-game series. During Game 2, she stayed out of foul trouble and scored from all over the court, including seven 3-pointers. Taurasi's long 3 made it 76–44 with less than 3 minutes to play in the third quarter and capped a 15–2 Mercury run. She also had eight rebounds and three assists. Taurasi's inspired play helped offset the return of forward Cheryl Ford to Detroit's lineup. The four-time All-Star, who missed the first game with a left knee injury, had five points and seven rebounds, but played less than half the game. Phoenix outscored Detroit in the first three quarters and played most of the fourth without its starters. The Mercury led by as many as 34 and were ahead for the final 37 minutes of the game.


Game 3

Katie Smith Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional basketball player, Smith's prima ...
scored 22 points, one shy of her career playoff high, to help the defending champions beat the cold-shooting Mercury 88–83 and take a 2–1 lead in the WNBA finals. The 33-year-old Detroit forward, in her 12th pro season, made 4-of-8 3-pointers, 3-for-4 in an 11-point third quarter. Phoenix, meanwhile, shot 35 percent, including a miserable 5-for-31 on 3s, in front of a loud home crowd of 12,024.
Deanna Nolan Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan (russian: Деанна Нолан; born August 25, 1979) is an American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League as well as the Russia women's national basketball team ...
, who scored 20, sank a crucial 3-pointer with 1:53 to go, then sealed the victory with four consecutive free throws in the final 8.3 seconds.
Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...
scored 22 for the Mercury.
Tangela Smith Tangela Nicole Smith (born April 1, 1977) is a retired American basketball player in the WNBA. Smith played the bulk of her career for the Sacramento Monarchs and the Phoenix Mercury where she won two WNBA Championships. She's currently an assis ...
scored 17 but made only 6 of 17 shots for Phoenix. She was 0-for-6 on 3s.
Penny Taylor Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. ...
was in foul trouble most of the night but still played 33 minutes and had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Mercury.


Game 4

With the poor-shooting Phoenix Mercury on the verge of elimination, coach
Paul Westhead Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American Retired basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Athl ...
decided to run the offense through
Cappie Pondexter Cappie Marie Pondexter (born January 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. She was born in Oceanside, California and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Pondexter is known for her scrappy play, quick crossovers and midrange ju ...
. Pondexter scored a game-high 26 points, including a driving bank shot with 21 seconds to play, and the Phoenix Mercury defeated the Detroit Shock 77–76 to force a deciding fifth game in the WNBA finals. The Mercury will try to become the first team in WNBA history to win a title on the road. Detroit, which won championships in 2003 and 2006, goes home to the Palace of Auburn Hills, where it is 5–1 this postseason. The only loss was a 28-point rout by the Mercury in Game 2. Phoenix shot 34.7 percent from the floor in an 88–83 loss in Game 3 - matching the worst shooting percentage in Westhead's two seasons as head coach. The Mercury came out just as cold this time, hitting two of their first 11 shots and finishing the first period 5-for-18 (27.8 percent). But Detroit was even more out of sync, and the Mercury went on a 14–4 run late in the first quarter and early in the second to take a 22–14 lead. The Shock found their rhythm in the second quarter, hitting 9-of-19 shots to take a 35–33 halftime lead. But they had missed an opportunity to bury the Mercury.


Game 5

A fast start helped Phoenix become the first team in the WNBA's 11-year history to claim the title on the road.
Cappie Pondexter Cappie Marie Pondexter (born January 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. She was born in Oceanside, California and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Pondexter is known for her scrappy play, quick crossovers and midrange ju ...
, in her second year in the league, scored 26 points and was chosen as the series MVP.
Penny Taylor Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. ...
scored 30 points and
Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...
had 17 for the Mercury. The Shock lost the last two games of the series, ending their bid to win back-to-back titles. Detroit also won the championship in 2003. Phoenix took some steam out of the home crowd, announced at more than 22,000, by surging to a 20–9 lead midway through the first quarter. Taurasi had eight points, including two 3-pointers, in that stretch. The large deficit quickly took Detroit out of its game. The Mercury's smallest lead in the second half was nine points.
Katie Smith Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional basketball player, Smith's prima ...
had 18 points for Detroit, which committed 17 turnovers compared to only nine for the Mercury. This was the Mercury's first WNBA championship. They previously appeared in the WNBA Finals in 1998.


Awards

* 2007 WNBA Champion:
Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...
* Finals MVP:
Cappie Pondexter Cappie Marie Pondexter (born January 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. She was born in Oceanside, California and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Pondexter is known for her scrappy play, quick crossovers and midrange ju ...


Rosters

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References

{{NBA on ABC
Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
Detroit Shock Phoenix Mercury
WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...
WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...
Women's National Basketball Association Finals
WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...
2000s in Phoenix, Arizona Sports competitions in Phoenix, Arizona Sports competitions in Michigan Women's sports in Arizona