Guru’s WNBA Report: Indiana Snaps Long Losing Streak to Washington As Mystics’ Skid Continues

By ROB KNOX (@knoxrob1)

 

Kiara Leslie’s 3-pointer with less than four minutes remaining pulled the Washington Mystics within four points and offered a glimmer of hope.

 

Tianna Hawkins’ 17 points and 10 rebounds were a bright spot. Her first double-double since 2018 could set a foundation for an extended run of consistent excellence for Hawkins in the future. 

 

Unfortunately for the Mystics, it wasn’t enough to erase a 16-point second-half deficit and prevent a 91-84 setback to the Indiana Fever Sunday night at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. 

 

In leading for a majority of the game, the Fever (3-4 overall) gained a measure of revenge from an opening-day beatdown to hand the Mystics their fourth consecutive loss and terminate an 11-game losing streak to Washington. 

 

The chief reason why the Fever beat Washington was because of the brilliance of Kelsey Mitchell, who delivered 29 entertaining points. She recently became the 217th player in WNBA history to score 1,000 career points. 

 

Mitchell’s mesmerizing stroke and scoring show traumatized the Mystics, who are playing this season without their best defenders from last season’s championship team in Natasha Cloud and Latoya Sanders. 

 

Mitchell made 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point distance. She also made all nine of her free-throw attempts. 

 

A lean-mean scoring machine, Mitchell hit for 20 or more points for the fourth time this season, a mark only eclipsed by the Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson whose done it five times this year.

 

Mitchell was an equal opportunity scorer. 

 

She had 15 points, including 10 in the second quarter, during the first half. Mitchell hit for 14 points in the second half even though she only took four shots. She made eight free throws in the second half. 

 

Mitchell led a balanced Indiana attack that saw five players hit for double digits. 

 

Teaira McCowan was a force with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Tiffany Mitchell added 14 points and seven rebounds. 

Julie Allemand chipped in with 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Dependable veteran Candice Dupree, the Temple grad, finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

 

Dooming the Mystics was a second quarter in which they were outscored 27-11, including 16-4 in the final 5:28 of the first half. Indiana enjoyed a 52-39 halftime bulge thanks to the Mystics missing 11 consecutive shots before Emma Meeseeman scored with .4 seconds remaining in the second quarter. 

 

Before that basket, the Mystics only points were on foul shots. They had good looks, but the ball refused to drop. 

 

Meeseeman led the Mystics in scoring, totaling 19 points, which was her third straight game with at least 15 points. Leilani Mitchell added 14 points and a team-best five assists. Myisha Hines-Allen had 11 points.

 

“Indiana made us pay for all of the mistakes we made,” Leilani Mitchell said. “Each one of us has to be focused on the scout. I think the biggest thing for us is bringing the energy. We’re not good enough as a team and we don’t have all the all-star players like the other teams have so we can’t take consecutive possessions off.”

 

Things won’t get any easier for the Mystics, who will face Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Seattle this week to conclude their arduous stretch of six games in 11 days. 

 

The Mystics are tired like everybody else in the wubble playing this compressed 22-game schedule.

 

“This game has its highs and lows and it’s a low moment right now,” Hines-Allen said. “We’re just waiting to get our groove back. Minnesota, we hope, we can commit to those things that are our game plan.

 

 “We can’t change anything from this game, it’s over. We just have to grow and get better from it.” 

Las Vegas And Los Angeles Take Victories

There’s a scene in the baseball comedy movie Major League where after the Cleveland Indians finally get a win, the manager stands up in the locker room and notes if they get one the next day they will have a winning streak.

 Two days after New York broke into the victory column for the first time this season, the Liberty knocked on the door of doing likewise against Las Vegas until the Aces knocked back at the finish with A’ja Wilson making the winning shot and second-year pro Jackie Young, the Notre Dame graduate, closed the door with a steal for a narrow 78-76 win in one of the two other games in the daily trifecta that is the shortened WNBA 22-game schedule in Florida near Tampa/St. Petersburg.

The other game was not as close by comparison as the Los Angeles Sparks stayed in the shadow of the frontrunners by ending a four-game Minnesota Lynx win-streak with a 97-81 triumph.

In the Las Vegas victory, Wilson, a former rookie of the year winner out of South Carolina, finished with 31 points, and five rebounds along with three blocked shots.

Young had 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench while Dearica Hamby had 13 points, also off the bench, as Las Vegas moved into a second-place tie at 5-2 behind overall leader Seattle, which was idle Sunday at 6-1.

Amanda Zahui B had 20 points and nine rebounds while Layshia Clarendon scored 15 points, and Joyner Holmes scored 11.

Kiah Stokes, a former UConn star, had eight rebounds while Kia Nurse, another former Huskies star in college, had seven points.

 Nurse also missed a shot after Wilson’s score, but the Liberty got the offensive rebounds, only to have Young block the final attempt to tie the game.

 In the Los Angeles game, Riquna Williams had 21 points off the bench for the Spark, while former Minnesota star Seimone Augustus, signed as a free agent in the offseason, finished with 13 points off the bench. 

 Veteran star Candace Parker among the Sparks starters, had a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Sydney Wiese out of Oregon State scored 15, and Chelsea Gray had 10.

 Rookie Crystal Dangerfield out of Connecticut scored 29 for Minnesota, while Damiris Dantas had 15 points and seven rebounds, Bridget Carleton had 15 points, former Connecticut star Napheesa Collier, the reigning rookie of the year, scored 10, and Lexi Brown, a former Connecticut Sun playerw out of Duke, had seven points and six assists.

Looking Ahead

Monday had been a league-wide day off since the WNBA underwent its delayed start late last month, but not so this week.

The trifecta matchups have Atlanta playing Connecticut at 6 p.m. before the Phoenix Mercury meets the Dallas Wing at 7 on ESPN2 TV at 7, followed by Seattle meeting the Chicago Sky (5-2) at 9 p.m., also on ESPN2.

On Tuesday, Las Vegas meets Indiana at 7 p.m., followed by Washington meeting at Minnesota at 9 on ESPN2, while Los Angeles concludes the activity tipping off against New York at 10 p.m.

The Playoffs

It’s all there underneath the standings on the WNBA’s internet tools, but since head-to-head could impact qualifying with each series limited at two games, the next tie break will be best winning percentage against opponents with a combined win percentage at .500 or better.

Should a third tiebreak be needed, it will be the best overall points minus opposition points in head-to-head matchups and should a fourth needed it will be best overall minus opposition points.

Teams are starting to separate themselves and while seeds won’t settle till late, by the halfway ;point next weekend, the picture should begin to clear as to which of the eight are clearly in the mix and those which will need a strong run the rest of the way to catch the bottom slots.

No question, the arduous stretches, unforeseen injuries and, potentially, potential positive Covid-19 test results, could begin to play havoc. After blasting through it’s first several games, Washington’s slump comes after a fast start.

The Guru contributed to this report.