PHOENIX — The Indiana Fever had a chance to steal a victory in the WNBA Finals but couldn’t seal the deal Tuesday night.

The Fever’s Katie Douglas sank a dramatic 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime. But the Phoenix Mercury recovered and won 120-116 in the highest-scoring game in the league’s 13-year history, playoffs or regular season.

The Mercury, seeking a second championship in three years, will take a 1-0 lead into Thursday’s Game 2 in the best-of-five series.

“We know we can’t hang our heads because Phoenix will just stomp all over us on Thursday (if we do),” said Douglas, who scored a playoff career high of 30 points.

The Fever’s Tamika Catchings fouled out with eight points, one more than her playoff low.

“Of course, we’re disappointed about the loss, but this is not the end of the season,” Catchings said. “The best thing about this series is it’s a best-of-five, not a best-of-three.”

The Mercury set a league record with a 93-point scoring average this season. The Fever nearly matched them, basket for basket.

The outcome was determined at the foul line: the Mercury were 32-of-38 to the Fever’s 16-of-19.

After Douglas’ 3-pointer from the right wing tied the score at 105 with seven seconds left in regulation, she scored eight points in OT. She missed three shots in the closing two minutes, including another 3-point attempt that could have tied the score.

“I still got it off,” Douglas said. “It felt good.”

Her 30 points came on 12-of-21 shooting. Ebony Hoffman added 27, also a playoff high, on 12-of-14.

Tammy Sutton-Brown added 19, Tully Bevilaqua 14 and Briann January 11 for the Fever.

The Mercury placed six players in double figures: Cappie Pondexter and Penny Taylor 23 each, league MVP Diana Taurasi 22, DeWanna Bonner 15, Tangela Smith 14, Temeka Johnson 13.

“Phoenix comes at you in waves,” Douglas said.

Pondexter scored the Mercury’s final five points, including a basket that put them ahead to stay, 117-116 with 1:27 left.

In regulation, Catchings’ two free throws trimmed the Mercury’s lead to 102-100 with 1:18 left. January tied it at 102 on a drive with 48 seconds on the clock.

Taylor pushed the Mercury ahead 103-102 ahead on a free throw with 27.9 seconds left but missed the second. Catchings was called for charging on the other end, and Pondexter extended the margin to 105-102 on two free throws.

Then Douglas drilled her tying 3-pointer from the right wing with 7.1 seconds left.

“I could hear Tammy saying, ‘Come here, Dougie, Dougie,’ " Douglas said of the play. “I found a way to squeeze my way into getting a little bit of an opening.”

The outcome spoiled the best playoff offense ever shown by the Fever, who set franchise records for points and field-goal percentage (.556).

The Fever began a 33-point third quarter by shooting 14-of-19 (74 percent). Douglas’ jumper to begin the fourth extended the Fever’s lead to 88-80, but they couldn’t hold it against the potent Mercury.

In a move matching that of Pacers president Larry Bird, general manager Steve Kerr of the Phoenix Suns purchased all 7,000 upper-level seats to give away. Fan response was tepid for a midweek game that began soon after the Phoenix workday.

Bird bought about 9,000 balcony seats at Conseco Fieldhouse and made them available free for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night.

The Fever led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter — they began shooting 10-of-17 — and turned a 12-0 run into a 25-15 advantage.

That spree included an incident in which Douglas used a forearm to foul Pondexter. Pondexter retaliated by throwing the ball at Douglas, and was assessed a technical foul. Catchings made the resultant free throw.

The Mercury outscored the Fever 12-2 over the final 92 seconds of a quarter that ended in a 31-31 tie. It was the highest-scoring first quarter in Finals history.

Taylor did most of the damage for the Mercury, coming off the bench for eight points in less than three minutes. The Mercury were 6-of-9 on 3-pointers.

The Fever reclaimed the lead in the second quarter, 43-38, but were powerless to restrain Taylor. By halftime, Taylor had 18 points and the Mercury led 56-53. Foul trouble limited Catchings to 12 minutes.

Phoenix 120, Fever 116, OT

[chart]
|FEVER|Min|FG-A|FT-A|OR-T|A|F|T|Pts|
|Catchings|31:06|2-7|3-3|1-6|5|6|2|8|
|Hoffman|37:48|12-14|1-1|1-8|2|4|3|27|
|Sutton-Brown|37:31|8-17|3-5|3-6|1|5|3|19|
|Douglas|40:22|12-21|2-2|0-3|2|2|2|30|
|Bevilaqua|32:40|4-6|4-4|0-1|4|5|2|14|
|Moore|14:41|2-4|1-2|1-2|0|4|0|5|
|January|27:10|4-10|2-2|0-1|7|4|2|11|
|Dixon|3:41|1-2|0-0|0-0|0|0|0|2|
|Totals||45-81|16-19|6-27|21|30|14|116|
[end chart]

3-point goals : 10-21 (Douglas 4-7, Hoffman 2-2, Bevilaqua 2-4, Catchings 1-4, January 1-4). Steals : 8 (Catchings 2, Douglas 2, Moore 2, Sutton-Brown, Bevilaqua). Blocked shots : 2 (Catchings 2). Team rebounds: 12.

[chart]
|PHOENIX|Min|FG-A|FT-A|OR-T|A|F|T|Pts|
|Pondexter|33:10|8-14|6-7|2-3|3|3|1|23|
|Willingham|22:20|1-3|1-2|1-3|1|1|1|3|
|Smith|25:32|5-9|2-2|1-5|0|3|2|14|
|Taurasi|33:49|5-17|9-11|2-9|6|5|5|22|
|Johnson|28:46|4-8|2-2|1-4|3|4|3|13|
|Swanier|9:54|2-5|0-0|0-0|3|0|0|5|
|Bonner|24:46|5-9|5-6|4-5|0|2|1|15|
|Taylor|27:14|7-10|7-8|1-2|2|1|0|23|
|Ohlde|19:28|1-1|0-0|0-3|0|1|1|2|
|Totals||38-76|32-38|12-34|18|20|14|120|
[end chart]

3-point goals : 12-22 (Johnson 3-3, Taurasi 3-8, Taylor 2-3, T.Smith 2-5, Swanier 1-1, Pondexter 1-2). Steals : 8 (Smith 2, Johnson 2, Taylor 2, Bonner, Pondexter). Blocked shots : 4 (Smith 2, Bonner 2). Team rebounds: 10.

[chart]
|||||||||
|FFVER|31|22|33|19|11|—|116|
|Phoenix|31|25|24|25|15|—|120|
[end chart]

Officials: Courteau, Humphrey, Mauer. A: 19,023.