After the unfortunate let-down that was game 1, the Mercury faced an improbable elimination from the playoffs tonight after one of the best regular seasons in franchise history. However, as we have come to see from this Mercury team throughout the course of the year, they certainly weren't going down without a fight.

And fight they did...

Not that I feel remotely bad for them, but if you're the San Antonio Silver Stars, what do you do when the Mercury compile the following stats?

• A 64 point first half, including a 35 point scoring outburst in the 1st quarter
• 64% shooting from the floor
• 46 made field goals
• 56% shooting from beyond the arc
• 9 made three-pointers
• 39-20 rebounding edge
• 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists from Diana Taurasi in just 25 minutes of play
• 16 points, 13 rebounds from DeWanna Bonner off the bench in just 22 minutes of play

Well, honestly, there isn't anything they can do in that situation except...lose...which they did, by a sum of 28 points.

In my previous blog, I stated that the Mercury were poised for a gigantic game 2 - luckily, I was right. There was a clear difference in energy and intensity from the entire Phoenix team tonight that was missing in game 1. "We have a lot of veteran players on our team," Corey Gaines said about the Mercury's response. "They've been in this situation before, whether it's overseas, in college, or in the WNBA. Diana for instance, you knew she was going to come out and have a big game. That's just what she does. Last game she didn't shoot too well, but I knew she was going to shoot well tonight."

Shooting "well" could be the understatement of the century. Taurasi had 20 points in the first half and finished with 24 points on 10-15 shooting in just 25 minutes of play. In typical selfless-Diana fashion, Taurasi deflected individual credit and pointed to the team effort. "We could probably focus on that [her amazing game and the Mercury's offense] but in the locker room we were all talking about how active we were and how much energy we had on the defensive side of the ball," Taurasi said.

Part of the Mercury's ability to put up so many points stemmed from their increase in energy and focus on rebounding. Out-rebounding the Silver Stars 39-20, this allowed the Mercury to get out in transition and push the tempo. "We made shots tonight," said Gaines. "They were missing shots and we rebounded the ball really well. It's as simple as that. Our defense gets better when we are making shots. Everything just gets easier."

Not surprisingly, Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes didn't have a solution to combat the Mercury's offense, and acknowledged there wasn't much San Antonio could do to stop it. "I thought Phoenix did a great job coming out and being the aggressor today," Hughes said after the game. "From an offensive perspective they were extremely aggressive converting shots consistently. Give them credit, they were assertive, and really put us in catch-up mode early in the game."

Gaines affirmed that the Mercury made necessary adjustments tonight, but wouldn't say specifically what. "We made one adjustment," Gaines said. "But I'm not going to tell you what that is." Perhaps the best adjustment they made was on Becky Hammon and not allowing her to get into a rhythm and create for her teammates. Becky had just 13 points and 1 assist tonight. "With Becky in game 1, she really was all over the court and created so much for her teammates," Taurasi said about Hammon tonight. "It's a team effort to stop her and Meek, Cappie, and Ketia did a great job individually."

To the Mercury's credit, they never let the Silver Stars back into the game. Perhaps more so than anything, this should be a huge confidence booster for Phoenix heading into game 3. Earlier in the year, they struggled with letting teams back into games and allowing opposing teams to feel better about facing them in subsequent contests. This was not the case tonight. Once Phoenix got a huge lead, the Silver Stars never got closer than 16 the rest of the game. Quite simply, the Mercury put the Silver Stars away like champions would - never letting up, and staying intense the rest of the game.

Still, this Mercury team isn't (and shouldn't be) content. It would be foolish to expect the Mercury to shoot 64% from the floor and 56% from beyond the arc again on Monday, but there is no reason to think the intensity or determination from this team would be any different."We know San Antonio is going to come and play out of their minds on Monday," said Taurasi. "We expect that from them. That just means we are going to come in and play with the same sense of urgency. Every possession counts. When you go through a game where you value each possession on both sides hopefully at the end of 40 minutes we've won the game."

If that's any indication of how the Mercury will come out Monday night, I'll say it again...

watch out Silver Stars.

*Note: I'll have a full preview of game 3 complete with player quotes Sunday evening.