WNBA Playoffs 2018: Second round notebook
We’re on to the semi-finals. Congrats to the Phoenix Mercury and Washington Mystics for surviving the insanely dumb single-elimination rounds to advance to the semi-finals. Once there, the Mercury will take on the №1 seed Seattle Storm, while the Mystics will battle the №2 seed Atlanta Dream. Both of those series begin on Sunday afternoon, with the doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.
Now, some thoughts on the second-round games.
Washington Mystics 96 — Los Angeles Sparks 64
Tired Sparks don’t shine
The Sparks had all the looks of an exhausted team on Thursday night. And really, it’s hard to blame them. They finished out the regular season on Sunday in Connecticut with a tough game against the Sun, then immediately hopped on the plane to fly across the country back to L.A. After beating the Lynx in an emotional, hard-fought game on Tuesday, they jumped right back in a plane to go all the way back across the country again for another single-elimination game Thursday in D.C.
After a bright opening few minutes, this game was all Mystics. The Sparks were getting beat off the dribble constantly, made way too many unforced errors — including a sequence where Candace Parker got away with a travel on a fastbreak, then proceeded to miss two layups — and shot just 6-of-22 from beyond the arc. All of which are characteristics of a team that’s worn out.
Mystics push the pace
While the Sparks played poorly, the Mystics still deserve plenty of credit for showing up and taking care of business. One way they were able to pull away from the Sparks is by pushing the ball in transition whenever they could. They finished with 14 fastbreak points on the night, compared to just four for the Sparks.
Not only were the Mystics able to tire out the defending Finalists by running as much as possible, but they also got easier looks in transition than against the Sparks’ set defense.
Team work makes the Mystics work
Elena Delle Donne, to little surprise, led the way for the Mystics, finishing with a cool 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. But the blowout was made possible by the effort from the supporting cast.
Natasha Cloud hit three triples, Tiana Hawkins added two of her own, and each were among the six different Mystics who scored in double figures in the game. It makes things much easier for EDD and Kristi Toliver when the likes of Cloud, Hawkins and Ariel Atkins are knocking down shots.
Phoenix Mercury 96 — Connecticut Sun 86
DT does it again
Diana Taurasi’s ability to will her team to victory in winner-take-all games is simply absurd. Like, really, it’s getting almost unbelievable at this point. It seems like she’s a character in a Matt Christopher book or something. She just doesn’t lose when everything is on the line.
After 27 points and five assists in Thursday night’s win, Taurasi is now 13–0 in winner-take-all contests.
Mercury’s big three proves they’re enough
All season long, the Mercury’s big three of Taurasi, Brittney Griner and DeWanna Bonner has been leading the way. To the point that there were many games where no one else on the team even scored in double figures. The question was always the same, though: would they be enough in the playoffs. The answer so far? Absolutely — especially if they keep playing like this.
After combining for 72 points in their round-one win, the trio somehow played even better on Thursday night. Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner each had 27 points, while DeWanna Bonner added 23. Together, the big three put together a whopping combined stat line of 77 points, 25 rebounds, 10 assists and seven blocks on 57 percent shooting.
There were definitely some questionable plays on the defensive end from the Sun — such as letting Taurasi walk into multiple wide-open 3s — that led to such gaudy numbers. But at the same time, the big three was just on fire. Sometimes you’re just a little bit better than the other team, and that was definitely the case with the Mercury in this game.
Courtney Williams 4 life
Courtney Williams is insanely cool. You only need look at her Instagram for five seconds to figure that out. That’s also about as long as you need to watch her play to come to the same conclusion.
Unnecessary crossovers, pull-up jumpers in transition, heat-check 3s, Williams brings it all to the table. It may not always be the most fundamentally sound basketball, and especially not the smartest. But damn if it isn’t extremely cool. Especially when she has it going.
Even though her Sun came up a little short, the run she went on in the fourth quarter to keep them in the game is the kind of thing that turns people into lifelong fans. Highlighted by a high-arcing 3-pointer that caught nothing but net as Williams was crashed into on the wing, she scored 11 straight points for the Sun, and just nearly won them the game by herself.
