What a week this has been in the WNBA, but that’s every week this season, isn’t it? From the Las Vegas Aces grinding out two close wins over the red-hot Washington Mystics to washed ex-NBA players trying to co-opt the culture wars currently engulfing the league like the losers they are, it’s been a long seven days. With that said, let’s dive into the most anticipated slate of hoops scheduled for this weekend.
It’s been a rough month or so for the Wings. After losing three consecutive games, head coach Jose Fernandez’s group secured a morale-saving victory over the Toronto Tempo. During the losing streak, Fernandez said he’d doubted his team’s will to win this season only twice. After the win, he shared how he felt about their current standing.
“After the Golden State game, we learned a lot about each other. Them holding each other accountable. I thought we went to Minnesota and played well. McBride had a special evening. I thought our effort and energy level was totally different in Golden State. And coming back home and them responding and doing what we did today, it was a lot different than what we saw at American Airlines [Center], so that was a positive.”
Dallas has 10 games left in the regular season, and two of them are against the Fever. These teams haven’t met since the season opener on May 8, which might be the longest time between matchups that I’ve seen recently. Don’t Google that or hold me to it. Both teams couldn’t be more different than when they first met. However, the Wings are without rookie star Azzi Fudd, All-Star Jessica Shepard, and a spark plug off the bench in second-year guard Aziaha James. Expect heavy minutes in the frontcourt from Alanna Smith and Awak Kuier against Indiana’s front line.
After a win over the Mystics on Thursday night, the Aces are just the second team to clinch a playoff berth thus far. If you’re wondering how they did so before the Golden State Valkyries, despite having the worst record (24-9), it’s because of the tiebreaker rules. The Aces have already faced the Portland Fire (the ninth-ranked team in the WNBA) three times this year and have swept the series. Even if they lose all nine remaining regular-season games, they cannot finish below the Fire in the standings. All this to say that Las Vegas’ ticket is booked and the final stretch is all about managing health and rest before a grueling playoff run. For the Lynx, they have to find a way to inhibit Aces star Jackie Young’s scoring prowess. The perennial All-Star is averaging 25 points on a 50/40/90 clip in her last 10 games. Yes, there is A’ja Wilson. But Young is the thorn that opposing teams can’t seem to pluck.
There might not be a hotter “Big 3” in the league than the trio of Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Caitlin Clark. Over 65 percent of the team’s total offensive production comes from these three players, who not many teams have been able to stop for long enough stretches to win. The last time these two teams faced each other, the Dream took two straight wins in convincing fashion in clutch time. This isn’t the same Fever team, and Atlanta has looked shaky against the league’s best teams. With the way Indiana has played recently against elite squads, that could very well be another outing with the same result.
If you weren’t glued to your seat Thursday night watching Prime’s slate of WNBA games, what were you doing? All three games were decided by seven points or less and […]
