Satou Sabally rushed from the block to the wing as her Phoenix Mercury teammate Kahleah Copper drove by on her way to the basket. It was the first minute of Game 1 in the first round of the WNBA playoffs between the Mercury and the New York Liberty. Copper drew both defenders, which left Sabally wide open on the wing. Copper turned, jumped and tossed the ball back to her teammate.
Sabally caught the pass as she slipped her orange shoes beyond the arc of the 3-point line at PHX Arena. She lined up the shot, her first of the game. Sabally flicked her left wrist toward the basket and sent the ball toward the hoop.
It clanged off the back of the rim.
A few minutes later, she let her second shot, another 3-pointer, fly. Miss. In a span of 1 minute and 50 seconds to close the first half, Sabally had a 3-pointer blocked, missed a layup, had a layup blocked and missed a 3-pointer. Halftime didn't help. Sabally missed all nine of her shots across the second half and overtime. She finished 2-for-17 from the field and 1-for-10 from beyond the arc in her first postseason game as a member of the Mercury.
Fourth-seeded Phoenix lost to New York 76-69 on their home court. It was Sabally's worst shooting performance since she joined the Mercury from the Dallas Wings in an offseason trade.
Two days and 2,500 miles later, Sabally caught the ball after crossing half court. Her orange shoes clashed against the seafoam green edge of the Liberty logo at Barclays Center. The Mercury led by two in the second quarter of Game 2. Sabally dribbled toward the top of the key. Breanna Stewart backed up and left Sabally with a little too much space. Sabally set her feet and launched a deep 3-point shot over the tips of Stewart's outstretched fingers. Sabally celebrated as the ball swished through the net.
In Game 2, Sabally shot 5-for-11 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range for 15 points in the Mercury's 86-60 rout of the defending champions on Wednesday. She also had 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
"Whenever [I] fail, I'm really good at looking at it objectively and learning from that," Sabally said at practice prior to the game.
For nearly a decade now, the word "unicorn" has found its way into sentences -- written or spoken -- about Sabally's game. Her 6-foot-4 frame combined with her ballhandling and quickness make her a physical outlier even among the greatest players in the world. But in Game 2, Sabally showcased her elite mental strength. The Mercury are hoping she can unleash her physical and mental prowess for the decisive Game 3 on Friday night (9 ET, ESPN2) in Phoenix. The winner advances to a semifinal showdown against top-seeded Minnesota starting Sunday in Minneapolis.
After the overtime loss at home, Sabally watched film and analyzed her performance. She replayed every shot. Some, she noted, were last-second prayers with the shot clock winding down. A few were flat-out forced. "But a lot of them were great," she said.
When Sabally was a rookie in Dallas, then-coach Brian Agler gave her a copy of "Ego Is the Enemy" by Ryan Holiday. She also read "Mind of the Athlete" by Jarrod Spencer. The books have helped her train her brain to cope with the inevitable clunkers that come her way.
"It's really important to just stay composed in these moments and work on that," Sabally said. "It's as important as working on your shot."
Sabally spent her time ahead of Game 2 visualizing the ball falling through the hoop rather than bouncing off the iron or swirling out of the rim. "That's how I train my mind to think positively," Sabally said.
Sabally has been challenged before. During her rookie season, she shot 19.7% from 3-point range after shooting 33.8% from beyond the arc in her final season at Oregon. When she struggles on the floor, she puts her energy into resisting the dark hole of doubt. "You have to believe in yourself," Sabally said. "Every time you fail, that is an opportunity to be tested in that way."
Mercury teammate Alyssa Thomas swears she never looked twice at Sabally's Game 1 stats or read anything into the rough night. "We have the utmost confidence in her," Thomas said after the Mercury rolled by the Liberty on Wednesday. "We knew she was going to come out and do her thing tonight."
For the win-or-go-home Game 3 in Phoenix, the Mercury will need the Sabally who imposed her will on the Liberty in Game 2. She leads Phoenix in scoring this season at 16.3 points per game, alongside her 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals, which are second best on the team.
"People will celebrate you when you're amazing, but people will really back you down when you're failing a little bit," Sabally said. "I just knew coming in, it's not going to happen again. You have to believe in that, and in yourself.
"Like, this is fun, this is a game."
When the players line up in Phoenix, the crowd will be raucous, the stakes will be high, and Sabally won't be holding back. The ball will go in.
That's how she sees it.
