Retiring Opals guard Penny Taylor had a quiet night as her Phoenix Mercury opened their WNBA semi-final series with a heavy 113-95 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
Maya Moore scored 31 points for the Lynx, including 15 in the second quarter, and Lindsay Whalen added 19 points and seven assists for defending champions Minnesota on Wednesday night.
Taylor banked only four points in her 19 minutes on one-from-five shooting from the field with the 35-year-old Australian hoping to win a fourth WNBA championship before she retires.
The Lynx, who beat the Phoenix in all four meetings this season, broke the WNBA record for points in a regulation playoff game.
Diana Taurasi scored 25 points for the Mercury, who won the match-up between the two teams in 2014 on the way to their own championship.
Brittney Griner added 16 points for Phoenix but was held to just two rebounds.
Game two of the best-of-five series is Friday night.
