Scheduling conflict forces Mercury WNBA playoff game to local college - Insider

• The Phoenix Mercury played a single-elimination playoff game against the NY Liberty Thursday night.
• The teams squared off at a local college's court because the Mercury's usual arena was occupied.
• Fans still came out in full force, but the 7,000-seat venue surely couldn't meet the demand.

The Phoenix Mercury boast one of the most notorious fan bases in the entire WNBA.

But when they needed their home-court advantage most, the team was booted from its usual arena at Phoenix's Footprint Center to make way for a concert.

Instead, the Mercury played their single-elimination playoff game against the New York Liberty at a local college — Grand Canyon University — in the school's GCU Arena Thursday night. Despite the high-stakes nature of the contest and the fact that it was broadcast nationwide on ESPN2, the court still boasted all of the iconography of the Western Athletic Conference program — including big, purple block letters that said "GCU" at center court.

—Cronkite News: Phoenix Sports (@sportscronkite) September 24, 2021

—The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) September 24, 2021

Fortunately for Phoenix's squad, the "X Factor" — the Mercury's raucous home crowd — came out in full force despite the venue change. As Colombian singer Maluma occupied the Footprint Center for the Phoenix leg of his "Papi Juancho" tour, the Mercury dazzled a packed house some eight miles down the road.

The rocking, rambunctious crowd was audible through the broadcast for fans back home. Surely, the X Factor helped power Phoenix's late-game comeback to take a one-point victory over the young Liberty squad.

—LaChina Robinson (@LaChinaRobinson) September 24, 2021

Still, it's worth noting that Phoenix brought in nearly 10,000 fans for its final two home games at its usual home in Footprint Arena. Grand Canyon University Arena, which has 7,000 seats, almost surely couldn't host the number of fans interested in taking in Thursday night's thriller in-person.

Now, the Mercury will hit the road for the second round of the playoffs. They'll travel to Seattle where they'll face the reigning-champion Storm led by a red-hot Jewell Loyd and WNBA legend Sue Bird in yet another do-or-die affair on Sunday.

Mercury point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (left) dribbles past Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Should Phoenix advance past a Seattle squad that has faltered without superstar Breanna Stewart and find its way back home to the Valley, fans can only hope that the Mercury and the X Factor will return to their rightful home at the Footprint Center.

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