An 11:30 a.m. tip-off on a Tuesday morning embodies much of the conundrum that is WNBA scheduling.
Usually, such an early game against a mediocre Mercury (13-12) team would constitute a disappointing turnout. For the Mystics (6-19), quite the opposite. The game was moved to Capital One Arena (a whopping 20,000 person capacity, compared to Entertainment & Sports Arena’s 4,200), accommodating for a collective of youth summer camps in attendance.
Tuesday was also dubbed “hooky day” by the Mystics social media team – an attempt to fill out the colossal venue with a 9-to-5 audience, encouraging them to take the day off work.
Filled, Capital One was not. However, 12,586 seats of colorful camp t-shirts, noise makers, and overwhelmed chaperones fostered an environment just as chaotic as any packed house the arena has seen.
The energetic crowd also served as a warm welcome home for Natasha Cloud. The Phoenix guard spent the first eight years of her career in D.C., where she won the 2019 WNBA championship.
A.M. Basketball
To the thousands of children watching what may have been their first live basketball game, every bucket deserved screeching support.
Brittney Griner kicked things off with a fadeaway jumper. The crowd went wild. Myisha Hines-Allen responded with a long two. The crowd went wild, again.
Some fans just love to see the ball go through the hoop, and both teams got the memo.
Through the first quarter, Washington struggled to find answers for the experienced dominance of Griner and Diana Taurasi. The 6’9″ Griner was too big for the likes of Stefanie Dolson and Aaliyah Edwards. Taurasi will be Taurasi, no matter who’s guarding her.
Taurasi will also be Taurasi no matter who’s watching her. A preteen audience didn’t stop the ever-intense guard from throwing an elbow into the jaw of Ariel Atkins, which was upgraded to a flagrant foul at the end of the quarter. It was the fourth offensive foul of the period for Phoenix.
Atkins connected on the ensuing free throw, and Washington led 19-17 after one.
Anger management
Early in the second quarter, Jade Melbourne was clobbered on a drive to no whistle. Mystics head coach Eric Thibault exploded at the refs, seemingly forgetting his impressionable company as well. He was kindly rewarded with a technical.
On the court, both offenses were clicking. Griner and Taurasi combined for 15 points and 12 points in the first half, respectively. Kahleah Copper, who’s been nothing short of an all-WNBA First Team candidate this season, added six in the second quarter.
For the Mystics, Atkins led the half with nine, followed closely by Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Hines-Allen, and Edwards, each recording eight. Washington held a 46-44 lead.
Perhaps Taurasi wanted to redeem her misbehavior by teaching the youthful game-goers a lesson about hard work, as the 20th-year veteran was the first player out of the locker room after halftime. Despite being a perfect 3/3 from beyond the arc in the first half, Taurasi got shots up alone on the court for a few minutes before being joined by her team.
A new face entered the offensive proceedings early in the third quarter. Julie Vanloo, just hours before her flight to Europe to join the Belgium national team in their Olympic preparations, decided to leave Mystics fans with a parting gift.
Vanloo nailed three three-pointers in the first three minutes of the third quarter (a mouthful, I’m well aware) to expand Washington’s lead to eight, forcing a Phoenix timeout.
Mystics offense playing hooky
Although called in reactionary fashion to Vanloo’s shooting, the Mercury used the timeout to switch to a zone defense. Zone is usually the worst strategy to utilize against a hot-shooting team, but Phoenix’s obscure 1-1-3 can work wonders on unsuspecting offenses.
In the final six minutes of the third, following Phoenix’s shift to zone, the Mystics scored six points and committed six turnovers. Passes were being deflected left and right. Composure faded.
With the Mercury ahead 71-63, a break before the fourth quarter allowed Washington to regroup and strategize.
Three straight layups from Hines-Allen, who was up to 14 points on the night, was a promising start.
The zone was faltering, and an over-rotation by the Phoenix backline left Dolson wide open for a corner three. Such shots are guaranteed makes for the league leader in three-point percentage. The Mercury lead was down to two.
On the other end of the floor, Copper was working relentlessly to keep the Mystics comeback at a distance. She had 10 points in the fourth, shooting a perfect five for five.
Washington was finally putting points on the board, but it was too little, too late.
Familiar endings against familiar faces
With 1:25 left, Phoenix led 91-85. Cloud, the former Mystic guard, snaked through a Griner screen and drew help defense. She sprayed the ball out to Sophie Cunningham who connected on a dagger three.
In a last-ditch effort to salvage a Washington win, Hines-Allen drove on the much smaller Taurasi and tried to put up a layup, which was emphatically swatted away by the 42-year-old. Taurasi turned to the sea of third graders and celebrated, leaving them with some animated verbiage that they hopefully didn’t understand.
Phoenix won 96-87.
The Mercury were led by Griner (23 points), Copper (22 points) and Taurasi (18 points). Hines-Allen paced Washington, finishing with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists.
As the Mystics struggles continue, the departed fan-favorite Cloud left the franchise with encouraging words after the game:
“We went through some storms together here too, and that’s just the name of the game… This team is relentless, it always has been. The people in that locker room, they’re dogs too. I played with them for eight years of my career. They’re gonna figure it out, and they’re gonna stay the course, and they’re gonna stay together.”
The Mystics’ next game is after the Olympic break, on August 15th against the Minnesota Lynx (17-8).
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