The Mystics are seventh in the rankings with an 11-7 record after finishing 2-2 this week.
Washington and the Phoenix Mercury split a two-game home series, with Washington losing the first game 99-90 in overtime before cruising to an easy 83-65 victory. Washington lost to New York 77–65 in a similar pattern before defeating Connecticut 71–63.
Mystics had a remarkable time this week
With an incredible three out of five victories and two days of rest, the Mystics overcame a heavy workload of five games in nine days. The rest helped them to dominate against the Sun with a lead of 22. Next, the group will attempt to complete a five-day road trip down the west coast from Los Angeles to Seattle to Las Vegas.
Mystics are facing injuries consistently
Injuries are a consistent problem for the Washington Mystics. Now the question is how the Mystics continue despite their losses. Although our squad is not the only one dealing with injuries, losing your top player always hurts. Players like Myisha Hines-Allen and Shakira Austin fill in the extra slack while Delle Donne rests her surgically repaired back to keep her for the remainder of the season.
With Delle Donne unavailable, Hines-Allen fills in at the starting spot for the Mystics. But she rebounded with a terrific week after a difficult start to the season. Hines-Allen averaged 6.2 points per game before the Minnesota matchup on June 10.
Shakira Austin appears to be a star player for Mystics
Shakira Austin is the other point guard player who completes the squad in the absence of EDD. Austin put her one of the best performances against the Mercury (6-9). Austin has already been holding her own down as both starts in the frontcourt. In terms of defense, Delle Donne helps mask flaws and cover for errors around the rim. Austin performs better when EDD is nearby, and EDD is usually where Austin scores the most goals. This should be unsurprising that the Mystics are near the top of the league in assists with 20.4 APG thanks to Natasha Cloud. She is one of the best passers in the game (tied for first in the W with 7 assists per game).
The Mystics’ 44 assists to 20 turnovers in their two victories illustrate a similar trend in the ratio. The season’s statistics support the same, showing that Washington wins games with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.65.
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