Note: WNBA.com’s Power Rankings, released every Tuesday during the season, are
the opinion of this writer and do not reflect the views of the WNBA or its
clubs.
The Sun Rises … no. Here Comes The Sun … no. The Rising Sun … no. The Blazing
Sun … maybe.
There are so many clichés to choose from to announce that the Connecticut Sun
have climbed to the top spot in the WNBA.com Power Rankings this week.
The Sun have been the hottest team in the WNBA through three weeks. They lead
the league in scoring (97.4 PPG), field goal percentage (50.8%), 3-point
percentage (40.0%) and have racked up three 100 point games in five outings this
season.
Speaking of those five outings, they have all been victories as the Sun is the
last remaining undefeated team in the league with their franchise-best start of
5-0.
Connecticut got off to a slow start last season (1-5) before blazing a trail to
a top-four seed in the playoffs. This season, they’re off to a hot start and now
the question is whether or not they can sustain this success.
1. Connecticut Sun (5-0)
Last Week: 2 OffRtg: 116.0 (1); DefRtg: 88.8 (1); NetRtg: 27.2 (1)
The highest scoring team in the WNBA does not have a single player ranked in the
top 20 in individual scoring. The name of the game in Connecticut is balance as
the Sun feature six players averaging at least 11 points per game, but none
higher than Alex Bentley’s 14.2 average, which ranks 21st in the WNBA. After
going 2-0 last week (wins at Chicago and Washington), the Sun have three games
on the horizon this week (at Atlanta on Tuesday and at New York on Thursday)
before hosting the Lynx on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, NBA TV).
2. Los Angeles Sparks (4-1)
Last Week: 1 OffRtg: 104.8 (3); DefRtg: 98.5 (3); NetRtg: 6.3 (3)
Candace Parker is back on the court and had a strong showing in her first start
of the season against Minnesota on Sunday as she finished with 19 points on
9-of-15 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and 3 assists. L.A. just got Jantel
Lavender back and are awaiting the arrival of rookie Maria Vadeeva to complete
their roster. L.A. won its only game last week (a second victory this season
over it’s nemesis from Minnesota) and have a pair of home games on the schedule
for this week (vs. Seattle and vs. Chicago).
3. Seattle Storm (5-2)
Last Week: 5 OffRtg: 110.9 (2); DefRtg: 103.1 (9); NetRtg: 7.8 (2)
While a team like Connecticut has no players ranked in the top 20 in scoring,
the Storm are the exact opposite – they have two players ranked in the top three
in scoring. Breanna Stewart (22.3 points per game) and Jewell Loyd (21.6) rank
second and third, respectively in the WNBA. The young one-two punch has been
complemented well by the addition of forward Natasha Howard, who is averaging
13.4 points and 6.1 rebounds through her first seven games in Seattle. The Storm
and Sun are the only teams in the WNBA to have won five games in a row this
season. Seattle’s streak was snapped by a loss to Dallas on Saturday and the
Storm get another tough road test Thursday when they face the Sparks in L.A.
(10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
4. Phoenix Mercury (4-3)
Last Week: 6 OffRtg: 104.3 (4); DefRtg: 104.5 (10); NetRtg: -0.2 (7)
The Mercury snapped their three-game losing streak with a win over the defending
champion Lynx on Friday and followed it up with a victory over the Dream on
Sunday – with both wins coming on the road. The road trip continues with a New
York matinee Tuesday (11 a.m. ET, Twitter) before the Mercury head home to close
out the week with home games against Chicago and Las Vegas. Through seven games,
Diana Taurasi is averaging 18.6 points per game with four 20-point games; she
had nine 20-point games in 31 games last season. Speaking of 20-point games,
DeWanna Bonner has tallied three in a row as she continues to look more and more
comfortable on the court after missing last season.
5. Washington Mystics (5-3)
Last Week: 3 OffRtg: 102.3 (5); DefRtg: 101.5 (7); NetRtg: 0.8 (6)
After opening the season 4-0, the Mystics went 1-3 over the past week with
losses to Seattle, Las Vegas and Connecticut and a win over Phoenix. Washington
played all four of those games without Elena Delle Donne, who has been sidelined
with an illness since leaving Washington’s May 27 win over Minnesota after just
13 minutes. The Mystics got impressive performances from their rookies in that
game to defeat the defending champs. But the team has not seen the same level of
success with their leading scorer (16.5 ppg) and rebounder (7.3) off the court.
After a busy schedule last week, the Mystics have just one game this week when
they host the Lynx on Thursday (4 p.m. ET, League Pass).
6. Minnesota Lynx (2-5)
Last Week: 4 OffRtg: 95.7 (9); DefRtg: 98.9 (5); NetRtg: -3.2 (8)
How long has it been since we’ve had to write the following sentence? The
Minnesota Lynx have lost four games in a row. If you guessed 2010, you are
correct. It was Cheryl Reeve’s first year as coach of the Lynx, Lindsay Whalen’s
first year back where she starred in college and a year before Maya Moore
entered the WNBA. Minnesota suffered losing streaks of five games, four games
and five games that season as they finished 13-21. Since then, they have never
won fewer than 22 games in a season, never lost more than three straight games
(once in 2012, once in 2012 and once in 2016) and won four WNBA championships.
The Lynx will look to end this rare losing streak Thursday in D.C. when they
face the Mystics before a clash with Connecticut on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, NBA
TV).
7. Dallas Wings (3-3)
Last Week: 7 OffRtg: 101.4 (6); DefRtg: 98.8 (4); NetRtg: 2.6 (4)
So much for it taking some time to integrate Liz Cambage into the Wings system
in Dallas. The 6-foot-8 center from Australia earned WNBA Player of the Week
honors for the third time in her career on Monday and the first time since 2013,
when she last played in the WNBA before returning to Dallas this season. The
Wings split their two games last week (a loss at New York and a home win vs.
Seattle) with Cambage averaging 26.5 point and 11.5 rebounds in those two games.
Similar to Seattle, the Wings feature two 20-point scorers (Cambage at 20.0 and
Skylar Diggins-Smith at 21.0). The duo will have the opportunity to add to those
averages this week when the Wings face a Fever team that allows the second-most
points per game this season.
8. New York Liberty (2-2)
Last Week: 9 OffRtg: 100.9 (7); DefRtg: 100.0 (6); NetRtg: 0.9 (5)
Kia Nurse was the ninth overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and the third player
chosen from her school with Gabby Williams and Azurá Stevens preceding her
selection. But after a 34-point outburst in New York’s win over Indiana on
Saturday, Nurse (19.0 points per game, 9th overall) sits behind only top pick
A’ja Wilson (21.0 ppg, 4th overall) as the top scorer in this rookie class. The
play of Nurse along with the usual brilliance from Tina Charles – the league’s
scoring leader (23.5 ppg) just earned her 29th Player of the Week honor to
extend her own record – has the Liberty back to .500 after a slow start. New
York has played only four games (the fewest of any team in the league), but have
a three-game week ahead beginning with a Tuesday matinee with Phoenix (11 a.m.
ET, Twitter) and followed by match-ups with Connecticut and Indiana.
9. Chicago Sky (3-3)
Last Week: 8 OffRtg: 96.4 (8); DefRtg: 103.0 (8); NetRtg: -6.6 (10)
The Sky got point guard Courtney Vandersloot back from overseas commitments last
week and after a tough first outing (11 points, 3-of-8 FG, seven assists, eight
turnovers) in a loss to Connecticut, Vandersloot had a much better showing in
Chicago’s win over Las Vegas as she finished with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting
(2-of-3 from three) to go with nine assists and just two turnovers. Rookie
Diamond DeShields continues to impress as she is averaging 15.3 points and 5.2
rebounds per game through the first six games of her WNBA career. After
splitting their two home games last week, the Sky hit the road for match-ups
with Phoenix, Los Angeles and Seattle over the next seven days.
10. Atlanta Dream (2-3)
Last Week: 10 OffRtg: 91.5 (12); DefRtg: 95.9 (2); NetRtg: -4.4 (9)
While the Dream have the second-best rated defense through the first three weeks
of the season, their offense has been M.I.A. The Dream are tied with the Fever
for the lowest scoring average in the league (75.2 points per game) and stand
alone as the only team shooting below 40 percent from the field (37.5%). The
Dream have the second-lowest 3-point percentage (28.0) and have the lowest free
throw percentage (72.4%) as well. Tiffany Hayes (16.4) and Angel McCoughtry
(16.2) rank 16th and 17th, respectively, among the league’s scoring leaders. The
Dream either need those two scorers to climb into the top 10 or get more than
three players averaging in double figures to provide more scoring punch on a
nightly basis. Atlanta will be tested Tuesday as they take on the high-scoring
Sun (8 p.m. ET, League Pass).
11. Las Vegas Aces (1-5)
Last Week: 11 OffRtg: 93.4 (10); DefRtg: 107.0 (12); NetRtg: -13.6 (12)
Last week, the Aces picked up their first win since their relocation to Las
Vegas as they slayed the Mystics in front pf over 5,500 fans at the Mandalay Bay
Events Center. After dropping a close game to the Sky in Chicago on Sunday, the
Aces are back home to host the Dream on Friday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, League
Pass). Rookie A’ja Wilson has been as good or better than advertised. Not only
does she lead all rookies in scoring (21.0), she is tied for fourth in the WNBA.
She has put together four straight games with at least 21 points and has five
blocked shots in her last two games.
12. Indiana Fever (0-6)
Last Week: 12 OffRtg: 93.2 (11); DefRtg: 106.6 (11); NetRtg: -13.4 (11)
The Fever are the only team still searching for their first win of the 2018
season. Indiana has had its chances with four of their six losses coming by
single digits, but they have yet to put everything together to get a notch in
the W column. On a promising note, rookie Kelsey Mitchell has showed star
potential in her first few weeks as a pro. She has scored at least 20 points in
three of her last four games (and had 18 in the other one) as she is averaging
18.3 points, which ranks third among rookies and 11th overall. Mitchell and the
Fever have two chances this week to get that elusive first win as they host the
Wings on Friday and face the Liberty in New York on Sunday.
