Brittney Griner misses Mercury’s game at Mystics with hip injury

By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Brittney Griner missed the Phoenix Mercury’s game at the Washington Mystics because of a hip injury. Griner was ruled out 20 minutes before tip-off. It’s the first game she has missed this season since returning from her imprisonment in Russia. Griner was nevertheless embraced by opponents in the nation’s capital down the road from many of the folks in the U.S. government who worked to get her home. Griner was freed in December as part of a high-profile prisoner exchange after spending eight months in jail.