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The slumping Mercury received unfortunate news when guards Monique Akoa Makani and Jovana Nogic were ruled out. Nogic missed the game due to personal reasons and had her contract suspended the same day.

Akoa Makani missed with a left hamstring flare-up that happened in the last five minutes of practice on Friday.

However, losing both guards didn’t hurt the Mercury’s depth when forwards Valeriane Ayayi and Noemie Brochant posted career games in Phoenix's 93-73 win Saturday at Mortgage Matchup Center.

The Mercury aim to continue that momentum when heading to Indianapolis for a pair of games against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.

Against Seattle, Ayayi provided a career-high 18 points off the bench, while Brochant had a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists.

Both Ayayi and Brochant came in as overseas free agents and knew each other from playing on the French national team. The two are so close that Ayayi considers Brochant like a little sister.

“Everybody was cheering, and I was like, 'Yeah, that’s just her,'” Ayayi said. “This is what she’s doing, and what I love about her is she’s just being right. When she has to shoot, she will shoot it. When she has to pass, she’ll pass it. She’s a great defender.

"For me, it was awesome to witness this and to see her grow in the league.”

Lexi Held carried over Akoa Makani’s defensive intensity in the starting lineup. Held also shot the ball well, scoring 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

After committing 20 turnovers against the Las Vegas Aces in the previous outing, the Mercury showed improved discipline. The Mercury didn’t commit any turnovers in the second quarter, which was where they established their lead with a 16-2 run.

Seattle had one second-quarter field goal until Flau’jae Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:47 left broke the drought. The Mercury had already made seven shots, including two 3-pointers from Ayayi and one each from DeWanna Bonner and Brochant.

“We always say the ball has magic and it did tonight in the second and third,” coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Noemie’s cutting in the second quarter really created some problems for Seattle. Credit to our group for trusting the pass, and our spacing was a little bit better at times, and that helps.”

The Mercury shared the ball well, often looking to pass instead of throwing up the first look. Phoenix finished with 26 assists.

Phoenix led by 20 points after the third quarter, allowing stars Kahleah Copper (17 points and seven rebounds) and Alyssa Thomas (nine assists and eight points) to be rested the entire fourth quarter.

Fever coach dismisses locker room issues

The Indiana Fever, who host the Mercury Monday, have dealt with growing rumors about their locker room and the players’ relationship with coach Stephanie White.

Fans ignited the rumors when White and Caitlin Clark got into a disagreement during a timeout when Indiana was down by a lot against the Portland Fire on May 30. The two were strongly talking to each other, with Clark seeming to throw her arms up in frustration before getting off the bench and standing up. Guard Raven Johnson replaced her in the lineup.

Social media was filled with speculation that White and Clark did not like each other or could not work together. It didn’t help that the Fever suffered their worst loss of the season in a 100-84 defeat.

However, the disagreement didn’t amount to much. Both White and Clark quickly dismissed it, with Clark telling reporters it was “two people being competitive.”

“I think a lot of those things happen all the time, and I know there's a camera on me, and that's how it's going to be,” Clark said on June 1. “But there are a lot of people out there in the media or on TV who think they know a lot of things, and they're just blatantly wrong about a lot of things.”

Clark and White shut down rumors again on June 13, when a reporter started a question with, “I wanted to address the elephant in the room,” about unconfirmed reports that the two had another interaction on the sideline following Clark’s technical foul at the end of the game against the Connecticut Sun.

But the two denied the alleged interaction, with Clark nodding her head when White spoke.

“I don’t think you’re talking about journalism,” White told reporters. “If we’re going to create news from fans on social media, or bots on social media, or whatever it may be, then that’s a problem, right? I think legitimate news sources need to report legitimate news.”

The outside noise hasn’t stopped the Fever from winning games, as Indiana will face the Mercury with a 9-7 record.

Clark posted 26 points and seven assists in her last outing on Saturday, but the Fever’s mistakes cost them in a 113-96 loss to the Atlanta Dream.

Clark turned the ball over seven times, while the Fever committed 19 errors.

When the Fever’s offense is clicking, it’s hard to stop them. Against the Toronto Tempo on Tuesday, four players finished in double figures, with Kelsey Mitchell scoring 27 points.

Other than the two losses against Atlanta, the Fever haven’t had trouble closing games out.

But Indiana has struggled against mid-tier teams such as Connecticut, Chicago and Washington, giving up double-digit leads before coming back in the end.

The Mercury have struggled throughout the season in closing games out, but the dominant win over Seattle could provide some much-needed confidence.

Indiana isn’t as young and inexperienced as the Storm, but the Mercury will likely try to exploit the Fever’s miscues when the two meet for the first time, in Indianapolis, on Monday and again on Wednesday.