The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Las Vegas Ends Two-Year Skid to New York As Liberty Drops to Third Behind Atlanta; Golden State Wins at Washington

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Emma Meesseman had another big night Wednesday with 24 points and 10 rebounds for defending WNBA champion New York (21-12) in Las Vegas (19-14) but the host Aces with their fifth straight victory finally got the better of the Liberty 83-77 coming out on top for the first time in the regular season since Aug. 17, 2023, before a crowd of 10,417 at Micheloeb ULTRA Arena.

The triumph moved the former 2022 and 2023 champs up over idle Indiana (18-15) into fifth place by a game and just a game behind Phoenix (19-12), which in fourth is clinging to the last spot with home court advantage in the best-of-three opening round of the playoffs next month when the eight-team bracket will be determined on Sept. 11.

New York started the season eye-to-eye with first-place Minnesota (27-5) with a best-ever 9-0 streak until injuries brought the Liberty back to the crowd and now after reduced to a split on the opening back-to-back Western swing of a three-game road trip they are looking up at two teams 6.5 behind the Lynx and now a half-game behind Atlanta (21-11) which won its sixth straight as Rhyne Howard scored 25 helping to top host Seattle 85-75 before a crowd of 10,687 at Climate Pledge Arena.

The league is dark Thursday but on a five-game ION package Friday Atlanta and Seattle meet again across the northern border in the WNBA’s first regular season game in Canada at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

The WNBA offered a preseason game in Toronto two years ago and one in Edmonton last  year and Toronto with Portland begins play next summer following the launch of Golden State this season.

By 2030 the league will grow to 18 with the returning cities of Cleveland (2028) and Detroit (2029) and debut of Philadelphia (2030).

Seattle (16-17) has now gone winless all month on a six-game streak, the previous five by four points or less, and now is clinging in eighth place to the last playoff spot 1.5 games behind Golden State (17-15) and just ahead of Los Angeles (15-17) by a half-game and Washington (14-18) by 1.5 games.

The New York loss besides temporarily stopped coach Sandy Brondello, who is tied with Richie Adubato at 100, from moving ahead alone with total franchise victories.

 In dropping to third the Liberty are just a game in front of Phoenix, two up on Las Vegas and three on Indiana heading to Minneapolis Saturday (2 p.m., CBS) seeking their first win in three meetings with the Lynx squad they beat last October in the Finals at home in the Barclays Center at the end of decisive Game 5 in overtime for their first crown in the franchise’s 28-year history dating to the WNBA’s launch in the summer of 1997.

The Lynx have been off since winning Sunday in Brooklyn and after Saturday the two teams meet again next Tuesday back at the Barclays Center.

Minnesota has continued to win despite MVP prime contender Napheesa Collier on the bench with a sprained ankle suffered after the two teams first met July 30 the following Saturday in a WNBA road record lopsided win at Las Vegas.

The New York victory Tuesday at Los Angeles officially put the Lynx in the playoffs because they own the tie-breaker with the Sparks for winning that series.

The Minnesota magic number for one of two home court advantages in the semifinals is five and six for the finals which New York held last year.

Meanwhile Golden State took another big step in the goal to be the first team in the playoffs their debut season by winning 88-83 at Washington before a road crowd of 4,200 in the small CareFirst Arena Venue for the seventh-place Valkyries’ third straight victory to be three ahead of the Mystics, who have lost five of six, and two in front of Los Angeles, which is just below the cutoff.

The other Wednesday game could be labelled the cellar bowl as last-place Connecticut (6-26) at home snapped a five-game losing streak winning 72-62 over Chicago (8-24) before a Mohegan Sun Arena crowd of 6,848 in Uncasville pulling the Sky to 12th a half-game behind Dallas (9-24) and two ahead of the Sun.

Connecticut is two losses from official elimination and becoming one of the five lottery teams and Chicago is four.

Loyd Leads Las Vegas Over New York

Coming off the bench Jewell Loyd scored 21, propelled by five from distance, for the Aces, beating the Liberty who ousted them in the semifinals last year to end their 2-0 championship run.

 Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson had 17 points and 16 boards for her 15th double-double this season while Jackie Young scored 15 and Chelsea Gray scored 13.

Loyd is now tied with her coach Becky Hammon for third in the WNBA with 26 games reaching five three-pointers.

Behind Meesseman, who has quickly adjusted with New York after her recent free-agent arrival, Sabrina Ionescu scored 18 and finals MVP Jonquel Jones had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

All-Star Breanna Stewart on the Liberty has been out all month with a bone bruise in her right knee so in a way Meesseman’s night replaced the kind of production that Stewart contributes.

The former two-time WNBA MVP hopes to return by the end of the month so that will be an enhancement to Meesseman’s arrival.

Isabelle Harrison is still in the concussion protocol while Nyara Sabally has been out with a knee injury.

“We have a lot of respect for New York,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “You know again we felt like we needed to take care of our business.

“That's a team that can easily bring up a hundred on you so we wanted to be about the defense and just like Jewell said, we're still in improvement mode, we still want to get better and every time we step out on the on the court, you know, it's an opportunity for us to get better, for us to grow as a group, for us to become more cohesive as a team.

 “I applaud the resiliency, you know, they threw a pretty big punch at us, and we were able to withstand it and then make a push back and that that shows some mental toughness that I was very happy to see.”

The game was close through the first three quarters and then the Liberty missed eight straight shots but were still in contention when Meesseman scored for a 69-68 lead with 5:26 left in regulation.

Of the Aces’ 22 points in the final period 15 came on free throws.

“We were right there, we had the lead, I thought the possession game hurt us there,” Brondello said. “We sent them to the foul line 16 times down the last seven minutes. That’s a lot.

“And then we didn’t execute on the other end as we would like. All things we can control. Disappointing, because this is a game we could’ve, should’ve, and we came up empty today.”

“It’s just we were not as disciplined as coach said,” Meesseman said of the physicality.

While New York now has two straight with the Lynx coming up, Las Vegas has another big game on the Friday card visiting Phoenix at 10 p.m.

Burton’s Career-High 30 Raises Valkyries Playoff Hopes

In the second of three games with playoff implications out of the four Wednesday Veronica Burton scored a career high 30 points with a personal best six makes from distance, part of a record 15 for the new franchise that enhanced its playoff aspirations and dimmed those of the Mystics with the youngest roster in the league.

“Being the most improved, it’s a no-brainer,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said of Burton’s performance.

Golden State also shot a team all-time best 46.7 percent beyond the arc.

“It's whether we want to be in the playoffs or not? “ Nakase said. “This is a choice. If our goal is to be in the playoffs, well then we say,  ‘what are these things that we need to do?’”

Burton was 10-13 from the field and grabbed seven boards and dealt seven assists,

Cecilia Zandalasini scored 20 with seven boards and four helpers while Tiffany Hayes, who came out of retirement to join the team, scored 14, and Janelle Salaun collected 14 points enabling the Valkyries to be 3-0 in the series.

Washington rookie Sonia Citron scored 15 of which 13 came on a 29-9 run in the final period bringing the Mystics close at 86-83 with 53.8 left after losing by one on Golden State’s recent earlier visit.

Hayes then made two from the line with 15.4 left.

Sug Sutton also had 15 for Washington with seven assists while rookie Kiki Iriafen had 14 points and ten rebounds, her 10th double double. Emily Engstler was 5-5 from the field, scoring 13 points of which three makes came from distance.

Jade Melbourne added 10 and rookie Lucy Olsen out of Villanova and Iowa from Collegeville played 13 minutes, shooting 2-6 from the field for four points.

“We finally have a team where I feel we have some rhythm,” Nakase said of the team’s adjustments from the beginning of the season and roster changes since then. “Every game is for K.T. How can we do more without her.”

Her reference was to All-Star and leading scorer Kayla Thornton, who suffered a season-ending injury soon after the game in Indianapolis.

“Everyone’s been stepping up on that extra level because without K.T. we’re missing a lot defensively, rebounding, her energy, so just give credit to every single player.

“Everyone’s just trusting each other cause that ball’s just flying around.”   

Golden State can help its cause further Friday with a visit to Chicago at 7:30 p.m. while Washington the same night visits Indiana at 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s other game has Los Angeles at Dallas at 7:30 p.m.

Howard and Gray Power Atlanta Over Seattle

In the first of two over three days this week in the Northwest, Rhyne Howard scored 25 and Allisha Gray had 22 with 11 boards for the winning Dream who jumped into second place six games behind Minnesota but clearly in the hunt for home court in the first two rounds if the victories continue.

Unlike the last five losses when Seattle stayed alive in the final minute, in this one after moving within eight at 77-69, Gray scored and Howard connected twice from the line for a 12-point lead with 2:37 left.

Brittney Griner added 11 points with eight boards and Maya Caldwell scored all 10 of hers in the first half.

“Really good game, both teams were really going at it back and forth,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said. “I just think the way we finished the third quarter was the big difference. It gave us some separation.

“They kept coming at us but we were able to hold them off at the end.”

Of the play from Howard, who recently came back from an injury that kept her sidelined just before the All-Star break, “Sometimes she gets like that. It’s fun to have her back and break out like she did, especially at the end of that third quarter, that’s something she’s capable of doing and it was huge for us today.”    

Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike scored 29 with nine boards while Gabby Williams scored 11 points.

“I thought our defense was pretty good, we just needed to punish them more,” Williams said.

The Storm are now struggling to make the playoffs after coming out of July in the middle of the opening round home court pursuit.

‘“We were talking after the game, we need to have a little bit of pride in those small moments,” Ogwumike said of the things that have been the difference between winning and losing. “We’re still doing a lot of great things but it’s about staying locked in.”

Leican’s Sixth Start Helps Connecticut Handle Sky

Because of expansion, the lottery field will be up one to five since the number of playoff teams for now stays at eight.

Two involved with the ping pong balls will be Wednesday’s opponents who met in Connecticut even if they haven’t officially been ousted yet.

Rookie Leila Lecan out of France scored 17 in her sixth start while Tina Charles scored 15 to help the Sun snap a five-game slide.

The game featured Connecticut’s Bria Hartley and Chicago’s Rebecca Allen and Ariel Atkins getting ejected following a tussle in the second quarter.

Marina Mabrey scored 10 as five of the Sun’s six wins are at home.

Chicago’s second-year pro Kamilla Cardoso scored 24 in what was the Sky’s 11th loss in the last 12. Elizabeth Williams had a double double with 12 points and 15 rebounds while Rachel Banham scored 10 points.

The ejections left the Sky with just eight players after the break as second-year pro Angel Reese has missed six straight games due to back issues and several more prior to a brief return.

With it all, Chicago, which was down 55-34 midway in the third period, rallied within 10 points in the fourth on an 11-0 run before Charles scored five including a 3-pointer.

Williams got the Sky within five 67-62 with 2:32 left on a three-point play but rookie Saniya Rivers matched it followed by Lacan’s layup to preserve the win.

While Chicago tries to be a spoiler Friday night hosting Golden State, the Sun are off until hosting Indiana Sunday at 1 p.m. on NBA TV.

The other four games Sunday before the regular season-ending countdown flips to four weeks has Washington hosting Los Angeles at 3 p.m. on ESPN3; Las Vegas hosting Dallas at 3:30 p.m. on ABC/ESPN+; Seattle hosting Phoenix at 6 p.m.; and Golden State hosting Atlanta at 8:30 p.m. on NBA TV.