Retirement questions loom as Taurasi plays what could be her final home game in Phoenix

What to watch: Thursday's regular season finale between the Mercury and the Seattle Storm is at Footprint Center.

• The Mercury are going to the playoffs, but they'll be the road team for the first two games of the best-of-three series.
• If the Mercury's opponents — probably the Minnesota Lynx — win the first two games, the series won't come back to Phoenix for Game 3.
• That means Thursday is the last guaranteed chance you'll have to see Taurasi play at home.

State of play: With Taurasi's future up in the air, the Mercury are encouraging fans to catch her potential finale with the promotional slogan: "If this is it."

The intrigue: The two-year contract Taurasi signed with the Mercury before the 2023 season is set to expire, so she'll have to decide one way or the other.

• Whenever she retires, she's indicated she'll do so without the hoopla and fanfare of a farewell tour.
• "When I go — don't we just all just go?" she said.

Catch up quick: Phoenix selected Taurasi, then a star at UConn who led the Huskies to three championships, with the No. 1 pick in the 2004 WNBA draft.

• In her 20 years with the Mercury, Taurasi has won three championships (2007, 2009, 2014), two WNBA Finals MVPs (2009, 2014) and one league MVP (2009).
• She's also won a record six Olympic gold medals, including this year in Paris.

By the numbers: Taurasi is the WNBA's career scoring leader with 10,637 points as of today, and her career 15 points per game is 20th in league history.

• Her 25.3 points per game in 2006 and 24.1 in 2008 are the second- and fourth-best single-season averages in WNBA history, respectively.

Details: Thursday's game against the Storm starts at 7pm. Tickets are available starting at $18.