Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. Here’s what’s going on in the WNBA.
The Washington Mystics have rounded out the playoff picture.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Ned Dishman/Getty Images.)
A lot was on the line in the last day of the regular season.
First off, the Dallas Wings took on the New York Liberty. The Wings had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Liberty had pride on the line as they had only won two games in this truncated season. They even led late in the game against the Wings.
That was until Arike Ogunbowale made a clutch bank shot with 12.4 seconds left. The Liberty didn’t convert in their next possession but, fortunately for New York, the Wings’ Kayla Thornton split her free throws. Jazmine Jones would miss the game-tying three and the Wings did their job. They had to wait until tonight to find out if they would make it into the postseason.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Storm and the Las Vegas Aces would face off to see who would get the #1 seed. More importantly, avoiding a potential match-up with the #3 seed Los Angeles Sparks in the semifinals. The Storm did sit Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart for this game so it wasn’t exactly a full finals preview.
A’ja Wilson would make it into a 5-point game with 17 seconds left after a short jumper. Jewell Loyd, who scored 30 points, tried to quickly shoot them back into the game but in the end, it fell short. The Aces would be the #1 seed. Both teams had 18-4 records but the Aces won the tiebreaker.
Finally, we had the Washington Mystics take on the Atlanta Dream. The Mystics had to win to get in and edge out the Wings for the last playoff berth. Kiara Leslie made a jumper to make it a 5-point game late. Both teams would go on droughts and that was not helpful for the Dream. Mystics eventually put it away with foul shots. Ariel Atkins had a huge game with 26 points for D.C. Betnijah Laney led the Dream with 27 points while the sensational rookie Chennedy Carter went for 26.
And in the end, it was the Mystics going in. So here is the playoff format.
The #1 Aces (18-4) and the #2 Storm (18-4) get a double bye to the semifinals.
#3 L.A. Sparks (15-7) and the #4 Minnesota Lynx (14-8) get a bye to the second round.
#5 Phoenix Mercury (13-9) will take on the #8 Mystics (9-13) in a first round elimination game. Meanwhile, #6 Chicago Sky (12-10) will take on #7 Connecticut Sun (10-12) in the other first round elimination game.
The winners will move on to the second round. The Sparks get the lower-seeded winer and the Lynx get the higher-seeded winner. That is also a one-game elimination round.
After that, the winners move on to the semis. The lower-seeded winner faces the Aces while the higher-seeded winner faces the Storm. As I mentioned earlier, the highest seed below the top 2 teams is the Sparks so they could possibly face the Storm in the semis. This will be a 5-game series. Winners move on to the WNBA Finals, which will also be a 5-game series.
And these are my first round picks:
#5 PHOENIX MERCURY vs #8 WASHINGTON MYSTICS
I like the spunk of Myisha Hines-Allen and Ariel Atkins. Emma Meesseman has regained her touch while you can never count Leilani Mitchell out. The Mercury, however, have Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith; SDS has been on a huge roll.
The Mystics may be the defending champs but most of their core is gone. I’m going to go with the veterans that have done it before.
PREDICTION: PHOENIX MERCURY.
#6 CHICAGO SKY vs #7 CONNECTICUT SUN
The Sky have been on a bit of a swoon while the Sun have clawed their way out of a 0-5 start to make it to the playoffs.
I think the Sky will wake up in time as Courtney Vandersloot keeps the ball moving. DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are so tough to take on but I think Chicago will make a few big-time plays at the end to pull ahead.
PREDICTION: CHICAGO SKY.
Bullet Passes
Arike Ogunbowale finished at 22.8 points per game after scoring 26 in their win over the Liberty. Her old backcourt partner at Notre Dame and current Wings mate Marina Mabrey scored a career-best 24 points. Familiarity!
Some people have said that A’ja Wilson’s final game sealed the deal for MVP. But I felt Stewie had been so good all season. It’s going to be a really close vote.
Most Improved Player is between Betnijah Laney and Myisha Hines-Allen. Hines-Allen had a huge jump in stats (2.3 points and 2.1 boards last year to 17.1 points and 8.9 boards this year). Of course, she played 30 minutes per this season compared to last season’s 7.8. Laney only played 8 more minutes per game than last season and she more than tripled her scoring average (5.6 to 17.2).
I’m picking Myisha but I won’t be mad if Laney gets it.
Double U Scoreboard
DAL 82 (8-14) vs NY 79 (2-20)
LV 86 (18-4) vs SEA 84 (18-4)
WAS 85 (9-13) vs ATL 78 (7-15)
Watch This Play
Arike’s clutchness comes through again. Too bad, we won’t see it in the playoffs.
SHE CALLED IT. @Arike_O #ArikeMVP pic.twitter.com/YrcKT3YHMQ
— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) September 13, 2020
Playoffs start on Tuesday! Hope everyone stays safe in the Wubble!
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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