Diana Taurasi doesn’t want to make ‘rush’ decision about her future

In what was likely Diana Taurasi’s final game in her hometown of Los Angeles, her Mercury won a tough contest Tuesday night, dispatching Phoenix veteran Brittney Griner and Sparks rookie Rickea Jackson.

Emotions ran high in a matchup that meant nothing in the standings. With their 85-81 win, the Mercury improved to 19-20, but they had already secured the No. 7 playoff seed.

The Sparks, now 7-32, were eliminated from the playoffs last week.

Still, the longstanding rivalry between Phoenix and Los Angeles always seems to be heated, even when the stakes aren’t high. Taurasi, 42, spent 20 seasons with the Mercury.

After recording 13 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds against the Sparks, she was asked if she was confident this was “the season” for her.

“I don’t know,” said Taurasi, who attended Don Lugo High School in Chino, California, and spent years playing WNBA games and attending NBA games at Crypto.com Arena, formerly the Staples Center. “The last couple of weeks have been a little nerve-wracking for me. I don’t want to make any emotional, rash decisions. I know the end is near. When that is, I don’t know.

“I’ve always been someone who just focuses on what’s next. And that’s practice tomorrow and then (against) Seattle on Thursday. I think after the season I’ll reflect and get advice from the people who are closest to me.”

The Mercury is promoting Thursday’s season finale against the visiting Storm with the slogan “If this is it…” — just in case this is indeed the last chance to see Taurasi in the downtown Phoenix arena where she has starred for two decades.

Taurasi herself isn’t ready to say that yet and she appreciates that Mercury hasn’t asked her to commit to anything.

“Especially when you’ve been somewhere for 20 years … I’m grateful that (we) can have these conversations and that I can really do it the way I want to do it,” she said. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and someone once said to me, ‘Sometimes you can’t choose your own ending.’ So when it ends, it ends. It’s been a fun ride.”

With neither Phoenix nor Seattle, locked into the No. 5 seed, having anything at stake on Thursday, it’s uncertain how many of Phoenix’s starters will play. The Mercury will then face the No. 2 seed Minnesota Lynx in the playoffs that begin Sunday.

The Lynx host the first two games of the best-of-three series, so Phoenix will need to win at least once in Minneapolis to secure a home playoff spot.

For Griner, who won the 2014 WNBA championship with Taurasi and Olympic gold medals for Team USA in 2016, 2021 and 2024, her evening ended early Tuesday morning.

With 18.1 seconds left in the second quarter and the Mercury on the free throw line, Griner and Jackson got into an altercation while getting rebound position. They exchanged words and got into a brief fight before being separated and ejected.

Mercury’s Sophie Cunningham and Sparks’ Crystal Dangerfield were also given technical fouls following the incident.

Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts and Los Angeles coach Curt Miller said they weren’t entirely sure what happened between Griner and Jackson and would have to watch the film. The WNBA is also expected to review the film.

“Everything happened so fast,” Miller said. “My first words to Rickea were, ‘Hang in there.’ I haven’t had much interaction with her yet. We’ll see what exactly happened.”