Diana Taurasi says ‘magic slipped away’ from Phoenix Mercury in WNBA Finals loss

A day after blowing a fourth quarter lead while facing elimination in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, the Phoenix Mercury players addressed what went wrong after deciding not to speak to the media immediately following Sunday’s result.

“We’ve been so good at the end of games that we thought we were gonna pull it out, because that’s just what we do,” Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi said Monday of the 80-74 loss to the Chicago Sky, which prevented a Game 5 back in Phoenix on Tuesday. “And it didn’t work out that way. I think at one point, all five of us missed a layup.

“So the magic slipped away from our hands pretty quickly and reality hit, and we were a pretty devastated team.”

Taurasi addressed the team not speaking to the media on Sunday, saying they “just had to take a minute.” Asked about a door to the Mercury’s locker room at Wintrust Arena being damaged after the game, Taurasi said, “There were a lot of doors in there.”

Taurasi, 39, reiterated what she said Saturday about taking time over the next few months to decide if she will return for an 18th WNBA season in 2022. She was limited to 16 regular-season games this year because of sternum, ankle and foot injuries.

“I’m probably the only person in WNBA history that had a fractured sternum,” Taurasi said. “I hadn’t rolled an ankle since high school. So it’s a little bit of everything, right? Bad luck, age, wear and tear. So we’ll see where I go from here. For as fun as it’s been on the court, off the court it’s been quite a battle.”

Taurasi was hoping that 2021 could bring her fourth WNBA title, but still felt it was one of her best experiences.

“I’m just as proud to be on this team as on those championship teams,” she said. “I’ve never seen a team really fight this hard ever. And I’ve been…