Phoenix Mercury's Natasha Cloud puts up double-double against former team

The Phoenix Mercury extended their win streak to three games after holding down a close 83-80 win over the Washington Mystics.

The Mystics had a chance to win with a three-point deficit in the final 34 seconds, but Natasha Cloud banked three free throws for the Mercury down the stretch to secure the win at Footprint Center on Thursday. Against her former team of eight seasons, Cloud recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists.

Following the win, the Mercury are now 3-1, achieving one-third of last season's win total.

Coming with a vengeance

It wasn't lost on Cloud that she'd be facing the organization she's spent her entire career with in the fourth game of the season. In fact, the way her time there ended became her biggest motivator for her performance.

“This meant a lot to me," Cloud said. "Everyone kind of knows what it is. I was let go in the offseason and I found a home here. To give eight years to an organization and to be fired on an off day is crazy and coming off of vacation too. That was not fun and I had December 13^th marked off on my calendar before I played today’s game. I made sure to look back and feel all of those feelings that I felt in that moment.”

Cloud wasn't afraid to show her passion throughout the game and got chippy against the Mystics.

Diana Taurasi is full of surprises

There’s a lot that Taurasi has accomplished in 20 seasons with the Mercury and continues to do so this season, but one of the biggest moments to start the game was an alley-oop from her set up from Natasha Cloud at 8:41 in the first.

Cloud found Taurasi open at the post after she was a step faster than guard Julie Vanhoo, giving way for the play.

"DT was really great for us leadership wise when we needed that extra spark and extra voice in our huddle," Cloud said. "She was it. I think that allowed her to get herself going too."

After struggling in the previous game with nine points on 3-of-13 shooting, Taurasi didn't carry over that slump and held the team lead in scoring of 20 points with Kahleah Copper. Taurasi shot 7-for-13 on field goals and went 2-for-7 from the 3.

"That was personally not my best game, but we won and sometimes you have to do other things to make sure your team gets over the line," Taurasi said. "Today was a little bit different with scoring a little bit more and rebounding. I still missed a free throw so a lot of work to be done."

Perimeter defense still needs work

The second half was split into two different performances as the Mercury outscored the Mystics by 11 in the third, but were outscored by 11 in the fourth.

The Mystics were especially sharp on the 3-point line, scoring nine of their last 12 points from beyond the arc. One of those shots was a wide-open 3 from Shatori Walker-Kimbrough that cut a 10-point lead to seven with 1:46 left and helped the Mystics stay in the game.

The Mercury gave up 13 3-pointers on 36 attempts, including six in the second half.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Taurasi posts bounceback performance in Mercury's win over Mystics