Top 3 Games to Watch — August 12–18
It’s getting to that point in the season where the playoff contenders are each playing multiple meaningful games every week. In an effort to spread the love, we try not to give the same team two “games of the week,” but the Storm, Sky, Mystics and Sun all have multiple games this week against other teams in playoff position. We’ve picked three games to keep an eye on, but as long as you’ve got the WNBA on your screen you can’t go wrong!
First, the results from last week’s games:
- Washington Mystics 99, Las Vegas Aces 70
- Phoenix Mercury 74, Los Angeles Sparks 84
- Minnesota Lynx 78, Washington Mystics 101
- Connecticut Sun 81, Las Vegas Aces 89
Her Hoop Stats Games to Watch
Seattle Storm (14–11) at Washington Mystics (17–7)
Wednesday, August 14, at 8PM ET — CBS Sports Network, Monumental
The Storm were in position for a first-round bye in the playoffs as recently as three weeks ago, but have since slipped to sixth and are holding onto that by a thread. Dropping to the seventh or eighth seed would put them on the road in the first round of the playoffs, so they’re playing with a sense of urgency. On the other side, the Mystics are one game ahead of Connecticut for first place with less than a third of the season to go, so this game will be huge for both teams.
For all of the superlatives heaped on the Mystics, the most consistent team is not one of them. They have been the best team so far in several measures, including margin per possession and offensive rating, and their record reflects that. But on the rare occasions that they do lose, they lose big. They have been outscored by 20+ points per 100 possessions four times this season, more than either the 9th-place Liberty or 10th-place Fever. Washington’s only one-possession loss this season came in the first meeting with the Storm — on June 14th, Seattle escaped the nation’s capital with a 74–71 win. The Storm have never won in DC twice in the same season; tune in on Wednesday night to see if they can pull it off this year.
Los Angeles Sparks (15–8) at Chicago Sky (14–10)
Friday, August 16, at 8PM ET — League Pass, The U Too, Spectrum SportsNet
The scouting reports should be fresh for this one, as this is a rematch of a scintillating affair at the Staples Center on Sunday. The surging Sky were coming off of a road win over the Aces and had won 8 of their last 10, but came up just short as Allie Quigley’s three rimmed out at the buzzer to give the Sparks an 84–81 win. Despite playing without starters Jantel Lavender (foot injury) and league assists leader Courtney Vandersloot (illness), the Sky led for the entirety of the first three quarters in the final game of their West Coast road trip.
For the Sparks, Chiney Ogwumike has returned from injury, but has been limited to 24 combined minutes in her two games back. In spite of her absences and limitations, Los Angeles has climbed into third place and is knocking on the door of a double-bye. Just a half game behind the Sun for second, a win here could move them into that double-bye position. Chicago is playing with plenty of playoff implications of their own, sitting in fifth and needing a strong final month to move into a top-four single-bye spot. A Sky win would pull them within half a game of the Sparks for that spot.
Dallas Wings (7–17) at Connecticut Sun (16–8)
Sunday, August 18, at 3 PM ET — League Pass, NESN+
Normally a team 10 games below .500 and 4.5 games out of a playoff spot wouldn’t be on the games of the week radar. The Sun, after all, are in first place and own the league’s best home record at 11–1, while the 11th-place Wings are the worst road team at 1–11. So why are we watching this game, other than the fact that we love the WNBA? Two reasons. First, this is the first meeting between these teams since a deal last week that sent Theresa Plaisance from the Wings to the Sun in exchange for Kristine Anigwe. The Sun are 0–2 since then while the Wings are 1–1.
Second, this game has the makings of a potential letdown game for the Sun. They will be playing their third game in five days, the previous two being against playoff-level competition, and will have just 41 hours after the conclusion of the second one to get ready for Dallas. The first time these teams faced off this season, the Wings came away with a thrilling 74–73 home victory on the strength of a 10-for-17 night from Arike Ogunbowale. The 10 field goals and 58.8% field goal percentage are still career highs for the rookie. In addition, the Wings are carrying the momentum of the 5th-best per-possession margin in August (the Sun are 8th). Connecticut could be on upset alert as they try to hold onto the top spot in the standings.
If you like this content, please support our work at Her Hoop Stats by subscribing for just $20 a year. All stats are compiled from stats.wnba.com and represent games played through August 12, 2019.
