WNBA Weekly Power Rankings
Week of July 22, 2019
The battle for the top spot continues in our rankings this week, with Connecticut reclaiming the top spot, Washington staying at second, and Las Vegas falling to third. These three teams have clearly established themselves as the best in the league.
The Mystics have the top offensive ranking by a mile, thanks largely to consistent excellence from All-Star captain Elena Delle Donne. The Aces are dominating on the other end of the court, holding their opponents to just 92.1 points per 100 possessions. Meanwhile the Sun boast high ratings on both ends, behind a perhaps lesser-known but equally-dominant pair of frontcourt players (Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas). But as for where they’ll fall among each other each week? Your guess is as good as mine.
Here are this week’s rankings (movements from last week’s rankings are noted in parentheses):
1. Connecticut Sun (↑2)
Record: 12–6, Offensive Rating: 101.6, Defensive Rating: 96.7, Net Rating: 4.9
The Sun reclaim the top spot in this week’s rankings. While they don’t have the best offensive rating or defensive rating in the league, they are the only team to rank in the top four in the league for both stats. Their execution on both ends was on full display in their only game of this week, a statement win over Atlanta. The Sun scored 98 points and held Atlanta to only 69 points, with none of their starters playing more than 26 minutes.
2. Washington Mystics
Record: 11–6, Offensive Rating: 110.8, Defensive Rating: 99.0, Net Rating: 11.8
The Mystics hold steady in the second spot this week. While Washington needed overtime to get it done versus the ninth-place Fever on Friday, they followed it up with an impressive 28-point win over Atlanta on Sunday. That margin of victory is also, coincidentally, the number of points Elena Delle Donne averaged this week. In the win over Atlanta, Delle Donne scored 28 on just 15 true shooting attempts, which computes to 1.87 points per scoring attempt.
3. Las Vegas Aces (↓2)
Record: 12–6, Offensive Rating: 98.7, Defensive Rating: 92.1, Net Rating: 6.6
The Las Vegas Aces fall two spots this week after losing to the Seattle Storm on Friday. The three-point loss on the road would have only dropped the Aces to the number two spot in our rankings, but the injury to A’ja Wilson, who is averaging 15.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, drops them a bit further. Wilson’s absence limits the Aces’ ceiling for as long as she is out.
4. Seattle Storm (↑1)
Record: 12–8, Offensive Rating: 98.8, Defensive Rating: 95.6, Net Rating: 3.2
5. Chicago Sky (↑2)
Record: 11–8, Offensive Rating: 99.6, Defensive Rating: 99.0, Net Rating: 0.6
6. Minnesota Lynx (↓2)
Record: 10–9, Offensive Rating: 98.4, Defensive Rating: 96.4, Net Rating: 2.0
7. Los Angeles Sparks (↓1)
Record: 10–8, Offensive Rating: 99.3, Defensive Rating: 99.7, Net Rating: -0.4
8. Phoenix Mercury
Record: 9–8, Offensive Rating: 97.8, Defensive Rating: 98.2, Net Rating: -0.4
9. Indiana Fever
Record: 6–14, Offensive Rating: 101.1, Defensive Rating: 104.2, Net Rating: -3.1
10. New York Liberty
Record: 8–10, Offensive Rating: 97.7, Defensive Rating: 103.9, Net Rating: -6.2
11. Dallas Wings
Record: 5–14, Offensive Rating: 94.7, Defensive Rating: 101.7, Net Rating: -7.0
12. Atlanta Dream
Record: 5–14, Offensive Rating: 91.1, Defensive Rating: 102.5, Net Rating: -11.4
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