The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Jonquel Jones in Return Leads New York Over Indiana; Minnesota Matches Best 25-Game Franchise Start; Dallas Upsets Seattle; L.A. and Vegas Each Win 3rd Straight

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The sensational WNBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis now relegated to the rear-view mirror, the league opened the second half of the season Tuesday night in what will be a competitive race for slots and seeds in this fall’s playoffs.

But not before earlier in the day passing on the viewing numbers from Disney that showed an average of 1.3 million viewers tuning into Friday night’s Skills and 3-point competition from Gainbridge Fieldhouse and 2.2 million Saturday night for the game itself.

Yes, the numbers were down from the previous year when Caitlin Clark as a rookie was on the side that played the USA Olympians, but it was still the second most watched ever in the 29-year history of the league.

   Unfortunately for Indiana, Clark, now up to 12 missed games, including the Commissioner’s Cup championship won by the Fever, was still absent Tuesday night with her latest groin injury as she was a week ago in Brooklyn while New York welcomed back Finals MVP Jonquel Jones from over a month’s absence with an ankle injury to control  the finish for 98-84 finish before a packed Barclays Center  crowd of 17,365.

That put the second-place Liberty (16-6) up a game on idle Phoenix (15-7) but the victory didn’t move them any closer to Minnesota (21-4), who picked up where they were before the brief break by getting started with a 91-68 win over Chicago (7-16) staying perfect in the Target Center in Minneapolis this season at 13-0 before a crowd of 8,821.

Las Vegas (12-11) made it three-straight across the break looking more like the team with consecutive titles in 2022 and 2023 and a semifinals appearance a year ago as the Aces at home won 87-72 over Atlanta (13-10) before a crowd of 10,361 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena to slip into sixth place a half-game up on Indiana (12-12).

 The Atlanta loss prevented the Dream from moving up a half-game into fourth on short-handed Seattle (14-10), who got stunned at home 87-63 by Dallas (7-17) with rookie Paige Bueckers scoring 14 points for her 19th straight double-digit game before a Storm crowd of 12,500 fans in Climate Pledge Arena.

In the other game played Tuesday, Los Angeles (9-14) showed more traction with the Sparks’ third-straight win moving closer to playoffs territory with a 93-86 road victory at the expense of Washington (11-12) before a crowd of 4,200 at CareFirst Arena that left the Mystics eighth in the last playoff spot a half-game behind Indiana but just a half above idle and expansion Golden State (10-12) and just two on Tuesday’s  opponent.

Wednesday’s slate has just one game but it’s big as Atlanta goes for part two of a back-to-back at Phoenix at 10 p.m.  on CBSSN and Merc+.

Thursday’s card has Las Vegas at 7 p.m. at Indiana at 7 p.m. on Prime Video, at the same time Los Angeles visits last place Connecticut, and Seattle goes to Chicago at 8:30 p.m.

Jones Leads the Way on Return to New York

Jonquel Jones scored 18 points on her return to a Liberty team that is going to get even more solid with the signing of Belgian Emma Meesseman, once she clears visa red tape.

When she played in Washington, she became the first bench player in WNBA history to win Finals MVP when the Mystics captured the league title in 2019.

Breanna Stewart and Leonie Fiebich each scored 17 for New York, while Sabrina Ionescue, stymied most of the game until the fourth period, scored 13 with nine assists, and Isabelle Harrison scored 13.

Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell scored 29 and the Fever took a 46-42 lead at the half capitalizing on Liberty turnovers.

“It felt great to be out there,” Jones said. "Obviously, it’s been a while since I’ve been out there on the court, but my teammates held it down when I was out and everybody was excited that I was back and I was excited, too.

“I really enjoyed the moment and had a lot of fun.  My condition, right now? I feel like I’m an eight out of 10 so I’m in a good spot.”

New York got back in front near the end of the third quarter on Stewart’s make from deep while Ionescu got loose in the final period scoring 10 straight points.

“I don’t think we executed well at both ends of the floor,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said of the early struggles. “We didn’t handle their pressure.

“Let’s be a little smarter with our play, starting on the defensive end. Kelsey Mitchell had a great game. She’s a hard guard. We started moving the ball against a team that wants to pressure or keep it on one side.”

Indiana’s coach Stephanie White said of the Clark situation, “I don’t have an update, saw another one this morning. I haven’t spoken to the trainers yet. So, no update from what we said, yesterday.”

As for the game, White observed, “The thing that stood out to me was the last three minutes of the third and first three minutes of the fourth where they went on like a 16-3, 18-3 run. You can’t allow that to happen against championship caliber teams,” said.

Twenty points on turnovers. Twenty points at the free throw line. You can’t allow that to great teams. That’s 40 points right there.”

The Liberty have a busy back-to-back weekend at home hosting Phoenix Friday at 7:30 p.m. on ION and Los Angeles Saturday on NBA TV.

Minnesota Throttles Chicago

The direction the postseason is heading begins to get defined a week from Friday when the Lynx host New York meeting for the first time since the Liberty edged Minnesota last October in overtime in the decisive Game 5 at the end in the finals in Brooklyn for the home  team’s first title in their then-28 year history.

In the interim, the Lynx are still rolling.

The 21-4 mark ties the franchise record with the 2012, 2016, and 2017 editions for best 25-game start in Minnesota history.

Kayla McBride and front-running MVP candidate Napheesa Collier, the MVP of the All-Star game, each scored 19 over the Chicago Sky.

The visitors looked a threat to win against the Lynx for a second time this month, leading 24-18 at the end of the first, before Minnesota awakened with a 29-14 second quarter for a 47-38 lead at the half and then made it 23-12 to go up 70-50 heading to the final 10 minutes.

Bridget Carleton added 11 points for coach Cheryl Reeve’s squad while Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams each scored 10 points. Natisha Hiedeman injured her ankle in the third period and was lost for the rest of the game.

With Ariel Atkins injured, Chicago went to Kia Nurse to start, and she led the Sky with 16 points while Angel Reese scored 11 with 11 boards, but nine turnovers. Kamilla Cardoso also had a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Minnesota mined 23 Sky turnovers into 20 points and added to the defend blocking eight shots.

The Lynx next host Las Vegas Friday at 7:30 p.m. on ION while Chicago hosts Seattle Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Dallas Flies Over Seattle

Arike Ogunbowale road four makes from beyond the arc to score 20 points for the 12th-place Wings besides Bueckers’ production that included six assists to tie Caitlin Clark for fastest player to reach 300 points and 100 assists.

Skylar Diggins, who became the first in WNBA to gain a triple double in an All-Star game last weekend and has topped the host Storm with 17.5 points and 5.8 assists averages did not play, the Associated Press cited personal reasons.

Dallas rallied from a 10-point deficit near the end of the half to go on an 8-0 run into the break.

The Wings continued on a 9-0 spurt to make 17-0 across the two period to forge a 43-36 lead.

Dallas dominated the second half 53-27 with Luisa Geiseloder scoring 13 for the game and Li Yueru nicked her former team with eight points and 10 boards as the Wings emerged from a four-game losing streak.

Former Villanova star Maddy Siegriest, the third overall pick of the 2023 draft, continues to be sidelined with an injury she suffered early in the season not requiring surgery but still causing her to go through a long rehab process.

Nneka Ogwumike scored 22 for Seattle, while Gabby Williams scored 14 with six boards and eight assists and four steals. Ezi Magbegor added 12 points and nine boards.

The Storm bench has been quiet fort 10 straight games being outscored by the opposition.

Besides Seattle meeting Chicago Friday, Dallas visits Golden State Friday at 10 p.m. on ION.

Las Vegas and Los Angeles Run Win Streaks to Three Games Each

In the game in Sin City ion the desert, A’ja Wilson paced the Aces with 24 points and 12 boards over Atlanta, while reserve Dana Evans had 14 points, including nine straight to start the second quarter.

Jackie Young added 14 as Las Vegas said goodbye to casino country a bit about to to visit Indiana Thursday to start a four-game road trip. NaLyssa Smith scored 11.

The Dream’s Allisha Gray scored 24 with eight boards, while Jordin Canada scored 12 but Atlanta was missing Rhyne Howard, who got hurt prior to the All-Star break.

The Dream were threatening moving to a six-point deficit with 7:48 left in regulation but the Aces answered with a seven-point run to seal the outcome.

Meanwhile, down in the nation’s capital, Los Angeles, that stopped Washington’s momentum last week ahead of the break, kept the pressure on as Dearica Hamby scored 24 points with 14 rebounds and Rickea Jackson scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half.

The Sparks had a slim three-point lead before going on a 9-0 run late in the game and Kelsey Plum clinched it with a long make with 49.1 seconds left.

Plum had 11 points.

“Rickea’s going to be an All-Star, said Los Angeles coach Lynne Roberts. “Her talent is obvious — her athleticism and length.”

The Mystics’ Brittney Sykes scored 18 while Shakira Austin almost matched, scoring 17. Rookie Sonia Citron got forced into not taking first shot until midway in the third and finished with seven points, five assists, and three steals.

Washington had an early 16-point lead that went to waste.

“I evaluate L.A. as just being potent offensively,” said Washington coach Sydney Johnson. “We’re an above-average defensive team, but the Sparks have some weapons. To their credit, if there are some breakdowns, they’re able to exploit it.”

Johnson and Roberts are two of eight coaches new to their teams this season, including teams in Golden State, which is new to the league; Chicago, Connecticut, Indiana (White went from Connecticut), Phoenix, and Atlanta.

The Sparks are soon to get back former Stanford star Cameron Brink, the number two pick behind Indiana’s Clark a year ago, who suffered a season-ending left ACL in her 16th game.

Roberts is looking for Brink to be back in action before the end of the month.

Los Angeles stays on the road heading to Connecticut Thursday while Washington is off until hosting Seattle Saturday at 7:30 p.m.