The Liberty are looking unbeatable, as the defending champs possess a legitimate 9-woman rotation. Already 7-0 on the year and 1-0 in the Commissioner’s Cup, they now have their second cup match vs Washington. Just a week ago, The Liberty beat The Mystics by 22 Points, being their 4th 20+ Pt victory this season as they boast the current highest NETRTG in WNBA history at 25.1.
Brondello, “It’s the Commissioner’s Cup, so we want to run the score up. We still want to play well [the whole game].”
Sabrina, “We want to come out and win every quarter. They’re going to play really hard
After playing 4 games in 6 days, The Liberty now have rested for 4 days before tonight’s contest.
Breanna Stewart has averaged just 4.4 RPG this season, which is just above half of her regular season average last season. She notched just 3 rebounds last game vs Washington despite The Liberty themselves notching a season-high 46 rebounds. While Stewie did defer some rebounds to Jones (18 Reb), her positioning off the paint-heavy Iriafen still should have produced more on the stat sheet. However, Brondello also benched Stewart in the 1H (12min) to favor more size in Kennedy Burke against the Mystics frontcourt of Austin, Dolson, Iriafen and Edwards.
The Mystics are tied with The Lynx in the fewest rebounds allowed per game. Still, 13/15 Forwards/Centers with 25+ minutes have snagged 5+ rebounds vs Washington. Brondello noted, “We know we can be better [at rebounding], it’s a focus of all players. Stewie can get in there a little bit more“
No team has surrendered more Corner 3PA than The Mystics, at 8.7 per game, which is over 30% more than the next worst team. As you could guess, Washington has let up the most OPP 3PA overall, rather focused on guarding the inside. NYL won by 23 while shooting 10-38 from deep despite being the league-leader in 3P% (38.3%). Jonquel, Stewart, Sabrina and Johannes went a combined 6-29.
Jonquel Jones averaging 19.5 PPG last season in games where she made 2 or more 3PT, including three games vs The Mystics (23.3 PPG). She had 14+ Pts in 17/18 games. Now, she has opened up the year with a 5% higher usage rate than in 2024.
Kiki Iriafen just won May’s Rookie of The Month award, averaging a double-double in the first month of her career! Will be interesting to note how head coach Sydney Johnson will manage her, as there is a load of young talent worth developing in that Mystics frontcourt.
Sykes with 20+ Pts in 6 of her 7 games this season, ranking 4th overall in PPG this season. What’s most impressive is her relentless attacking of the basket, which has left her ranking 3rd in % of the team’s fouls drawn (43.4%) – leading all guards by at least double digits. Tough spot today, facing an NYL defense that is 1st in OPP FTM allowed (11.9) and OPP PITP (27.4).
The Phoenix Mercury will remain without Alyssa Thomas for her fourth consecutive game as she deals with a calf injury. They have remained generally steadfast in her absence, yet not without adjustments to the offense. The Mercury have yet to see more than 2 days of rest between any of their games since the season started.
Thibbetts, on 23 point loss vs The Lynx last game, “We’ve got three new players trying to learn a system. Typically we are better at home. They’re a good team.”
The Valkyries, as an offense that loves to live-or-die by the three ball themselves (shoutout Joe Mazulla), have surrendered the 2nd most Corner 3PA and 4th most overall 3PA. PHX is Top 3 in 3PA per game; While their volume hasn’t decrease, The Mercury have made just 23.5% of their 3PA since Thomas got injured, which is 12% worse than their marks before.
Both of these squads are coming off losses to Minnesota, but I think The Valks remain underrated despite the 2-4 record. Nakasa is just locked in as a coach, “I will always tell my team to ‘let it fly’. If it’s not falling, then we have to get back on defense… We can’t have any errors defensively. This team has killer mentality”. The Valks have sold out each of their home games (18,000 seats!).
Hayes got back up to near 15 1H minutes vs Lynx, yet had to sub out immediately at the start of 2H after picking up her 4th foul. Upon returning with 8min left, took a shot to the nose (which is why she has been wearing a mask) and did not return. Questionable for today.
Burton has 30+ minutes played in each game without Hayes this season, while both her and Vanloo boast >30% assist rates with Hayes off the court. It is Salaun, the rookie from France’s national team, who has led in overall usage at 24.9%. Her and Leite, her french teammate, actually take both of the top two spots.
Mercury has a bit of a rebounding issue, practically in a three way tie for allowing the most OPP Reb this season. They have allowed 35 or more rebounds in each of their last 5 games. The Valks, who are 4th best at rebounding this season, have had three games where they notched 35+ themselves:
– 37 vs MIN (Salaun 6 Reb, Burton 5 Reb)
– 41 vs NYL (Salaun 13 Reb, Billings 7 Reb, Burton 6 Reb)
– 37 vs WSH (Burton 9 Reb, Fagbenle 7 Reb)
The Top 10 Rebounders vs PHX this season have all been Power Forwards or Centers, and they all notched 7+ rebounds.