Griner kept the Mercury within reach of Chicago during a sluggish start on Wednesday night and brought the Phoenix Suns players sitting courtside to their feet with her second career playoff dunk in the first quarter.

She also scored on a turnaround jumper to help give Phoenix a late four-point lead in regulation, but just missed blocking Courtney Vandersloot's tying layup with 4.4 seconds left.

"I mean BG was so big for us the whole game," said Diana Taurasi, who had eight of her 20 points in overtime for the Mercury.

"She's just incredible. She kept us in the game when we weren't playing well."

Taurasi opened overtime with a four-point play and added a 3-pointer that put Phoenix up 89-86 with 1:24 left. She then came up with a huge defensive play, getting a steal with 36 seconds on the clock.

Skylar Diggins-Smith, who had 13 points and 12 assists, sealed it on a layup with 12.8 seconds left.

"In overtime we let it rip," Taurasi said. "We talked to each other and said it will be our best five minutes of basketball and it happened."

Australian Brondello has coached the Mercury since 2013.

Vandersloot led the Sky with 20 points and 14 assists.

Game three is on Friday in Chicago.

Australian Associated Press