The Sparks dispatched their arch rivals and the defending champion Minnesota
Lynx in the single-elimination first round on Tuesday to set up another
win-or-go-home game on Thursday (6:30 PM ET, ESPN2). After hosting the first
round game against the Lynx, the Sparks must now travel to Washington D.C.,
where they will face the No. 3 seed Mystics with the winner advancing to the
semifinals to meet either No. 1 Seattle or No. 2 Atlanta.
During the regular season, Candace Parker had four games where she scored in
single digits. The Sparks lost all four of those games. In her Playoff career,
she had been held to single digits only three times. The Sparks lost all three
of those games. On Tuesday in L.A., however, Parker scored a career-playoff-low
two points, but the Sparks found a way to win thanks to the outstanding efforts
of Chelsea Gray, Riquna Williams and Nneka Ogwumike.
Gray posted game-highs in points (26) and assists (6) as she shot 9-of-17 from
the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Williams added 17 points on 6-of-12
shooting, including 3-of-6 from three, in her fourth consecutive start. Ogwumike
returned to the lineup – she has been battling mono for the past few weeks – and
delivered with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with five rebounds in just
under 37 minutes on the court.
Tuesday’s game was L.A.’s first taste of the single-elimination opening two
rounds of the WNBA Playoffs after they earned double-byes to the semifinals in
the first two years of the new format, advancing to the Finals both times. To
take the next step, the Sparks will have to face a well-rested Mystics squad
that earned the No. 3 seed, a first-round bye and a home game in the second
round.
The Mystics will open the postseason riding a hot streak as they have won eight
of their last nine games, with their only loss of August coming on the final day
of the regular season. Included in this run is last Friday’s matchup with the
Sparks in DC, when Natasha Cloud knocked down a contested step-back jumper with
0.2 seconds left to give the Mystics the 69-67 win, helping secure the No. 3
seed for Washington and send L.A. down the standings.
Season Series
June 15 at Washington Sparks 97, Mystics 86
Candace Parker (23 points, career-best 11 assists, seven rebounds) led a
balanced Sparks offense that saw all five starters score in double figures in a
97-86 road win in the first meeting of the season between the Sparks and
Mystics. After trailing by as many as 20 points, the Mystics rallied to tie the
game, but the Sparks were able to prevail in the end.
July 7 at Los Angeles Mystics 83, Sparks 74
With their win over the Sparks on July 7, Mystics head coach Mike Thibault
become the first WNBA coach to reach 300 regular season wins. Kristi Toliver led
the way with 18 points, while LaToya Sanders added 14 points and eight rebounds,
and Elena Delle Donne and rookie Ariel Atkins each added 11 points. For the
Sparks, this loss came in the middle of a rough patch as the team lost five of
six games. Gray paced the Sparks with 23 points, while Nneka Ogwumike recorded
one of her seven double-doubles on the season with 22 points, 13 boards and five
assists in the loss.
August 17 at Washington Mystics 69, Sparks 67
The Mystics and Sparks met in DC less than a week ago as Washington picked up a
69-67 win over L.A. thanks to a clutch shot from Natasha Cloud, who knocked down
a fade-away jumper against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard
just before the buzzer. This was the only game in the season series that the
home team won, which the Mystics will try to do again on Friday when they host
the win-or-go-home, second-round matchup. Washington is 12-5 at Capitol One
Arena, while L.A. is just 8-9 outside of the Staples Center.
Stats Spotlight
Individual Scoring
The Mystics have the top scorer in this matchup as Elena Delle Donne finished
fifth in the WNBA this season at 20.7 points per game. The Sparks, however, have
the next three leading scorers – Candace Parker (17.9 ppg, 11th in WNBA), Nneka
Ogwumike (15.5, 17th) and Chelsea Gray (14.9, 19th) – before Kristi Toliver
(13.9, 23rd) rounds out the five All-Stars that will be featured in this game.
Team Scoring
The Mystics finished fifth in the WNBA in scoring this season at 84.5 points per
game, compared to 78.9 for the 10th-ranked Sparks. However, L.A. allows the
fewest points of any team this season (77.0), while the Mystics ranked fifth at
81.4 points per game allowed. The Sparks allowed just 68 points in their opening
round win against Minnesota – nine points below their season average. Can their
defense put together a similar effort against the Mystics?
3-Point Shooting
As a team, the Mystics average 8.4 3-pointers made per game (3rd most in WNBA)
and shoot from distance at 35.8 percent accuracy (5th best in WNBA) with 29.5
percent of their offense coming from beyond the arc. But no team defends the
3-point line better than the Sparks, allowing just 5.5 3-pointers per game on
31.4 percent shooting – the best marks in the league. In their three regular
season matchups, the Mystics shot just 16-of-63 (25.4%) from beyond the arc,
including a 1-of-16 performance in their second meeting of the season – a game
Washington was still able to win despite their ice-cold shooting.
Matchups To Watch
Chelsea Gray vs. Kristi Toliver
Chelsea Gray had her breakthrough during the Sparks postseason run to the 2016
championship as she made big plays while coming off the bench behind starting
point guard Kristi Toliver. During that offseason, Toliver headed to Washington
as the DMV native wanted to play closer to home. That elevated Gray to the
starting point guard and has led to back-to-back All-Star appearances for the
fourth-year guard. Now Gray and Toliver get to face off against one another in
the playoffs.
Gray is a huge reason why this matchup is happening. The Sparks trailed by 11 to
the Lynx during Tuesday’s first-round game, which led head coach Brian Agler and
Candace Parker to implore Gray to take the game over. Even on a team with two
MVPs in Parker and Ogwumike, they knew it was Gray that Minnesota had no answer
for and jumped on her back to lead the Sparks to the second round. Now it’s
Toliver’s turn to try to slow down Gray, who averaged 15.3 points, 2.7 rebounds
and 2.7 assists in their three regular season meetings. Meanwhile, Toliver
averages 12.7 points, 5.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds against her former team.
Elena Delle Donne vs. Candace Parker
If you went into a lab and created the ideal modern basketball player, the end
result would look a lot like Elena Delle Donne or Candace Parker (MVP favorite
Breanna Stewart is another that fits in this unicorn category). They are long
(Delle Donne 6-5, Parker 6-4), athletic, multi-skilled players that affect every
facet of the game. They can both score inside or out, can grab rebounds and
immediately get out in transition, they can find open teammates when the
double-teams inevitably get thrown their way and they can defend multiple
positions due to their combination of length and quickness.
Getting to watch one of these players on the court in a given game is a treat,
but to see two squaring off with one another makes for appointment viewing. Can
Parker bounce back from her sub-par game in the first round? She averaged 14.0
points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists in three games against the Mystics this
season. Meanwhile, Delle Donne is averaging 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7
assists and 1.7 steals against the Sparks as her Mystics won the season series
2-1.
Nneka Ogwumike vs Mono
How important is it for Nneka Ogwumike to be on the floor for the Sparks?
Including their first round win over the Lynx, the Sparks are 18-10 in games
that Ogwumike plays and just 2-5 when she is out. What was initially described
as a mystery illness that was causing extreme fatigue for the 2016 MVP has now
being diagnosed as Mononucleosis. After missing three games around the All-Star
break as well as the All-Star Game, Ogwumike returned to the Sparks lineup on
Aug. 2. But she missed the regular season finale as the illness once again
forced her to rest. Ogwumike looked good against the Lynx on Tuesday as she
finished with 19 points, five rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes on the
court. But the Sparks have little time to rest as there is just one off day
between the first and second rounds and the team must use that day to travel
cross country from L.A. to DC. The Sparks need a healthy Ogwumike if they hope
to get past the Mystics and keep pushing for a third straight trip to the
Finals.
Mike Thibault vs. Brian Agler
Thursday’s game isn’t just a matchup of All-Star players, but the two winningest
coaches in the history of the WNBA. Earlier this season in a game against L.A.,
Mystics head coach Mike Thibault became the first WNBA coach to reach 300 wins.
His total now stands at 310 after the Mystics finished the season with the
WNBA’s third-best record at 22-12. Thibault is also the only coach to earn three
Coach of the Year awards (2006, 2008, 2013). Sparks coach Brian Agler ranks
second to Thibault in all-time wins with 269 following the Sparks’ 19-15 season.
He trails Thibault in Coach of the Year awards 3-1, but has the ultimate edge in
championships, 2-0, as Agler led the 2010 Storm and 2016 Sparks to the title.
