PHOENIX (AP) — Brittney Grinier won the opening tip and ran to her familiar spot on the low post.
There was nowhere else the ball would have gone on the Phoenix Mercury’s opening possession of the season – not after what Griner went through to get here.
With her back to the basket, Griner faked as if she was going to shoot, swiveled the other way and placed another fake. Chicago’s Elizabeth Williams fell because of Dick, Griner absorbed the friction and hit the ball to start the three-point play.
After all the emotional buildup, Griner got off to the perfect start in her first regular season game since being fired after more than 10 minutes 10 months in a Russian prison.
“If I were first choice, I would be aggressive and try to score,” Griner said.
Griner did her part all afternoon, finishing with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. The Mercury went all out to get the win after cutting an 11-point deficit to two in the final minutes.
That wasn’t enough.
Chicago Sky held for two 75-69 win on Sundaybut Griner’s return was more about playing in front of family and fans at home again when, just a few months ago, she was in jail halfway across the world.
“We didn’t finish the job with a win tonight, but I still admire BJ,” Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said. “BG is someone who can obviously handle many things that not many people can handle.”
Griner received a standing ovation in her only preseason game and again in the 2010s Mercury season opener In Los Angeles Sparks.
For the first time in her home there was a completely different atmosphere.
Many fans wore Griner’s 42 jersey and some waved small black towels with “BG” on the front. One young fan held a banner that read, “We are (Heart) BJ. Welcome home!”
While warming up, Griner shared a hug with her teammates, Sky players and Chicago coach James Wade, who coached her outside. As the warm-ups were winding down, Mercury protégé Sophie Cunningham grabbed a microphone near the midcourt and addressed the crowd.
“Last year, all we wanted to do was bring BG home. We did that and we’re all together now,” Cunningham said, drawing a growl from the crowd.
Just before the player is introduced, Griner is praised by a poet while surrounded by Mercury dancers. Once the introduction began, the fans gave each of the Mercury players loud cheers before Griner finally came out.
Surrounded by bright lights, the 6-foot-9 striker emerged from behind a wall and stepped onto the field, drawing a huge standing ovation. She still had a tear in her eye before jumping off the post.
“Maybe there was a little dust in my eyes, a little dust,” she said. “It was moving to be back on stage, to see some of the clips.”
Griner made an immediate impact on the Sparks on Friday night, finishing with 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots in the 94-71 loss.
Opening the game on a three-pointer against Chicago, she blocked a shot on Sky’s second possession and dropped a neat rebound pass to Diana Taurasi for a tailgate layup.
Another bullet hit Greiner and sprayed it into the trash talk as it lifted the floor. She added another three-point play late in the second half to pull the Mercury within seven points.
Griner got the crowd laughing early in the third quarter when he forcefully assisted Williams, after being fouled by Courtney Williams, who flew into the air for the touchdown.
The support turned to a roar when Griner hit a three-pointer, and the fans rose from their seats to match the three-fingered hand gesture, as she flashed a shout of “I’m back!” ”
“It brought me back to being on the plane (home),” said Greiner. “It just felt really great. Crazy moment.”
Griner scored on a three-point game to pull Phoenix within 69-67 with less than two minutes left in the game, but it was her and Mercury’s last moment.
Phoenix got a few sloppy turnovers, Chicago’s Dana Evans scored on a running bank shot and Heaven held out for the win.
Griner finished off her first home appearance by hugging Sky and Wade’s players once more before heading to the baseline to hug her wife, Cherelle.
A loss in the short term and a profit in the long term.
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