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By EVAN WEBECK
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – When Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner strolled – nay, rolled – to the podium to claim the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award before Thursday’s playoff game on her Hovertrax, her favorite mode of transportation, nobody was questioning why she was there. And by the time Game 1 of the Mercury’s WNBA semifinal series against the Tulsa Shock was over, a record-setting performance validated the honor.
The 6-foot-8 Baylor product blocked 11 shots in the Mercury’s 88-55 playoff-opening win, the most in WNBA playoff history. This just hours after winning her second straight defensive player of the year award.
She earned the award after entering the record book for most blocked shots per game in WNBA history, averaging 4.04, to go along with a league-leading 105 total, despite missing eight games. Griner received 85 percent of the vote.
“That’s the one award I want to get,” Griner said after the game. “I just want to show why I won it.”
And show, she did.
It was a matchup of strengths at US Airways Center. The Shock’s guards didn’t shy away from driving into the paint and directly challenging Griner. But it was like Griner was holding up her trophy all night, seemingly using her newly engraved glass pyramid to swat away 11 futile Tulsa attempts and alter many more.
Griner broke her own WNBA playoff blocked-shot record of 8, achieved last postseason against the Chicago Sky. In fact, by the end of the first half, she had already accumulated seven rejections. The 11 total blocks came in just 24 minutes of game action – nearly one block every two minutes.
Although a 33-point lead doesn’t create itself, Griner didn’t always look like she was on her way to history. She first lost the opening tip, then picked up two early offensive fouls that forced her to take a seat for almost seven minutes.
When she re-entered the game with 5:29 left in the first half, Phoenix was up 34-18 and never looked back. The Mercury ended the half on an 18-4 run, and Griner would only see one more one-minute break before resting for good about three minutes into the fourth quarter.
“Just gotta brush off the fouls,” Griner said with a smirk. “Don’t think about it. Don’t say too much. Keep your mouth closed. Just play through it.”
Griner said she didn’t know how many blocks she had when she exited the game, only that she had seven at halftime. If she did, she might have asked to stay in a little longer. Not only did Griner finish one block shy of the WNBA record of 12 that she holds, she also came only two rebounds short of what would have been the second triple-double in WNBA playoff history.
Add that to a team-high 18 points, and Griner had a huge day.
“What a great night to come out and show why you’re the best defensive player in this league,” coach Sandy Brondello said.
Indeed, it was well timed. Despite earning the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, many doubted the Mercury had what it would take to repeat as champions, having lost the likes of Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor.
Griner liked the statement the 33-point victory made.
“I think it does, actually,” Griner said when asked if the dominating win sends a message to the team’s doubters.
Not only did it answer looming questions about the Mercury’s viability as a title contender, it also gave them a 1-0 series lead heading into Saturday’s Game 2 in Tulsa.
