Yahoo Sports Mercury to finally host playoff game on home court after Suns, Lakers move preseason game
It took a bit of maneuvering from a pair of NBA teams, but the Phoenix Mercury will finally be back on their home court next week.
The Mercury will host the Las Vegas Aces at the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix for Game 4 of their playoff series on Wednesday night, which will mark their first playoff game this season on their home court.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns were set to play a preseason game at the Footprint Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, the same time that the Mercury and Aces were due to tip. The two NBA teams, however, agreed to move their tip time to 3 p.m. instead, so that the Mercury can use their home court
It’s unclear where the Mercury would have hosted had the Lakers and Suns not moved up.
"There were a lot of moving parts and a number of groups, including the NBA and WNBA, the Lakers and their local broadcast partner, and ESPN that had to work together to make this happen," Jason Rowley, the president and CEO for Suns Legacy Partners, LLC, said in a statement via ESPN. "In the end, all parties should be proud to be a part of this historic doubleheader."
The Mercury have had to relocate away from the Footprint Center multiple times already this postseason. They played their first-round game at Grand Canyon University last month so that reggaeton star Maluma could hold a concert. The team will play Game 3 of the series with Las Vegas on Sunday at Arizona State in Tempe so that a planned Disney on Ice show can be held downtown.
The Mercury and Aces are tied up 1-1 in their series headed into Sunday. Phoenix beat Las Vegas 117-91 in Game 2 on Thursday night behind a 37-point outburst from Diana Taurasi, a playoff career high.
