Brittney Griner exits Mercury loss to Storm with hip injury, Diana Taurasi goes scoreless

The Phoenix Mercury's struggles seemed to culminate Tuesday night in an 83-69 loss to the Seattle Storm that saw star center Brittney Griner exit with a hip injury while veteran Diana Taurasi didn't score a point.

Griner played nine minutes in the first half before she left the game with two points and two rebounds, going 1-for-5 from the field.

For Taurasi, the performance was only her fifth time going scoreless across her decorated 19 seasons in the WNBA.

Griner leads the team this season, averaging 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The severity of her injury is still unclear.

"[We] still have to wait to get the evaluation on that," Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard told reporters postgame. "I didn't really see an exact play [where Griner was hurt.]"

The blowout dropped Phoenix to 2-6 and the team is now 1-3 at home.

Sophie Cunningham led the Mercury with 21 points and got candid with reporters after the defeat.

“I’m tired of losing,” Cunningham said. “I’m ready to catch a rhythm with our team. Enough is enough. Our vibe has got to change. Our energy’s gotta change."

Cunningham added that she knows the tide will turn for the team eventually.

"But you’ve got to show up, keep working hard. Eventually things will turn around. These times right here is what makes the highs really high and exciting," she said.

As Phoenix works to shift the season to a more positive place, it's worth noting the group has faced a litany of off-court struggles following Griner's detainment in a Russian prison and subsequent release in a prisoner swap.

Going into Tuesday night, Griner was a few days removed from recording a season-high 29 points in the Mercury's 85-82 win against the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

As the team traveled to that matchup, it dealt with an incident at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in which Griner was approached and recorded by a social media personality who yelled at her about politics.

That situation, which Mercury forward Brianna Turner described as "excessive harassment," is just one aspect of the team's "new normal."

The Mercury promised to make "adjustments" for travel in response, something the team will also likely have to do in a broader sense as the season continues.