Taurasi shows she’s a champion — again

 It was only the end of the first quarter but the box score was bad news for the Phoenix Mercury.

They trailed the Indiana Fever, 23-16, in the fifth and decisive game of the WNBA finals.

And that wasn’t the worst of it.

Diana Taurasi was 0-for-3 from the field. She had two points. There was no guarantee the Mercury would rally for their second championship in three years, but one thing was for sure:

MVP Taurasi lifts Mercury to WNBA title

If Taurasi didn’t get it going, Phoenix didn’t have a chance.

But Taurasi isn’t the most celebrated player of her generation because she ducks the big moments. By halftime she had 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the second quarter, the Mercury had a nine-point lead, and soon the confetti would fall on their 94-86 victory Friday.

“She’s got the swagger, the confidence, the skills, the whole thing to be a champion,” owner Robert Sarver said. “That’s why she’s the best.”

At the rate she’s going, Taurasi will soon have more rings than fingers. In addition to her three national championships at Connecticut she has two gold medals with the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team and now two WNBA championships.

“Winning never gets old,” said Taurasi, who was named the finals’ Most Valuable Player after being named MVP of the regular season.

This wasn’t the easiest of seasons for Taurasi. On July 2 she was charged with extreme DUI for driving with a blood alcohol limit of 0.17 percent, more than twice Arizona’s legal limit of 0.08. She pleaded not guilty, but she was suspended for two games, she has a court date scheduled on Oct. 30, and she still faces a possible 30-day jail sentence.

“It’s been a humbling summer,” Taurasi said. “The last month it’s been an incredible high from the MVP to the championship, but rewind 2 1/2 months ago and I was probably as low as I can get. I’m the type of person that wakes up every day happy but, boy, it was tough to wake up happy every day for a couple of weeks.

“But then I used it to make myself better in areas that you guys will never understand because it’s very private. But everything happens for a reason. If you use it the right way, it can be an advantage in life; and that’s what I tried to do.”

On the court, there was little room for improvement. Taurasi’s skill set was on full display in the second quarter when she scored seven points in the first 98 seconds, then gave the Mercury its first lead since 2-0 when she stole a Fever pass and hit a 3 at the other end for a 33-31 advantage. Phoenix never trailed again.

“She’s the MVP of the league for a reason,” teammate Penny Taylor said.

Taurasi wasn’t a solo act. Guard Cappie Pondexter was brilliant, scoring 24 points on 11-of-20 shooting even though she took an elbow to her right eye before halftime. On the way off the floor she told coach Corey Gaines, “I can’t see,” and Gaines thought he might have to play the second half without his Scottie Pippen to Taurasi’s Michael Jordan.

“I knew I was going to be able to play,” said Pondexter, who sported a shiner under her eye. “I wasn’t going to let my teammates down that easy.”

Pondexter could have been named the series MVP just as easily as Taurasi — “Cappie is my X factor,” Gaines said — but Taurasi’s presence simply transcends everyone else on the court. Even with Indiana focusing its defense on her, Taurasi scored a team-high 26 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

“It was such a nice feeling when that buzzer went off,” she said. “We did something special, and we did it as a group.”

As she accepted the MVP trophy in the postgame presentation, Taurasi turned and looked down.

“Sarver’s little boy was biting my ankle,” she said.

What Sarver’s son was doing, who knows. But Taurasi didn’t care. She had her seventh championship trophy and the Mercury their second.

“I don’t walk into the locker room and proclaim myself to be the leader,” Taurasi said.

She doesn’t have to say it.

Everyone knows it.