in a row, they would face off against the Seattle Storm. Down 2–0, the Mercury came back to tie up the series 2–2. In game 5, the Mercury lost 94–84, ending their season. In April 2019, the Mercury announced that Taurasi's spouse, Penny Taylor, had been hired as an assistant coach. Taurasi started the 2019 WNBA season on the injured list after undergoing back surgery. Taurasi would continue to be hobbled throughout the season, this time with a hamstring injury which limited her to only 6 games played for the season with very minimal playing time. Without a healthy Taurasi, the Mercury barely made the playoffs as the number 8 seed with a 15–19 record. The Mercury were eliminated in the first round elimination game 105-76 by the Chicago Sky. In September 2019, Taurasi—who remained under contract with the Mercury—confirmed that she intended to play for the team in 2020. In 2020, the season was delayed and shortened to 22 games in a bubble at IMG Academy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taurasi would come back healthy for the season and played 19 of the 22 games, on August 23, 2020, Taurasi scored a season-high 34 points in an 88–87 victory over the Washington Mystics while honoring the late Kobe Bryant on his birthday by wearing number 8 along with his last name on her jersey. The Mercury had finished 13–9 as the number 5 seed, they defeated the Washington Mystics 85–84 in the first round elimination game, however they would get eliminated by the Minnesota Lynx in the second round elimination game by a final score of 80–79. In February 2021, Taurasi re-signed with the Mercury on a 2-year deal. Taurasi injured her ankle and broke a bone in her foot late in the Mercury's 2021 season and opted to sit out due to the injury in the first single elimination game against the New York Liberty. She returned for the second round single elimination game against the reigning champions Seattle Storm which the Mercury won in overtime. In the best of five semi final series against the Las Vegas Aces. Taurasi led her team to a tie series after a Game 1 loss (by 4 points) making history. At 39 years old, Taurasi made history as the oldest player in league history to score an over 30 point game. She put up 37 points on 10 of 13