Los Angeles Sparks vs. Washington Mystics Preview, Prediction and Odds - 8/24/21
A pair of teams fighting for playoff positioning do battle in an interconference matchup on the WNBA hardwood in the nation’s capital. The Los Angeles Sparks are on the road as they travel to face the Washington Mystics Tuesday night. Los Angeles comes in off an 86-83 road victory over New York Sunday afternoon in their most recent game. Washington was defeated 85-78 at home by Seattle in their latest action Sunday afternoon. The teams split two meetings earlier this season with each team prevailing at home: the Mystics rolled to an 89-71 triumph on June 10 while the Sparks claimed an 89-82 victory in the most recent meeting June 24.
Los Angeles Sparks Looking to Maintain Recent Surge
Los Angeles ran their win streak to four since coming out of the Olympic break as they held off the Liberty on the road Sunday afternoon. The Sparks improved to 10-13 on the season and enter this game holding the final playoff spot in the WNBA by half a game over the ninth-place Wings. On Sunday, Los Angeles led by as many as nine in the opening quarter and by seven after one stanza, only to trail by seven at the half. The Sparks trailed by 11 with 1:13 to play in the third quarter before reeling off a 14-0 run to go up 75-72 with 7:38 to play. Los Angeles trailed by two midway through the fourth quarter before a 6-0 run gave them an 81-77 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The Sparks shot 47.1% from the field, including eight of 23 from three-point range, and forced 22 turnovers in the victory. Erica Wheeler led Los Angeles with 17 points and five assists in the win.
On the season, Los Angeles is 12th in the league in scoring offense as they average 74 points per game. The Sparks are last in rebounding (30.3 boards per game) and 12th in assists (15.5) this season. Los Angeles is 2nd in scoring defense as they give up an average of 78.9 points a night. Nneka Ogwumike leads the team with 15.6 points plus seven rebounds a game this season. Chiney Ogwumike (8.3 points, 4.8 boards) and Kristi Tolliver (9.9 points) are solid secondary scoring options. Derek Fisher hopes to get more from role players like Brittney Sykes, Nia Coffey (7.4 points), Erica Wheeler (13.8 points, 4.4 assists), Te’a Cooper (8.7 points), Amanda Zahui B. (11.3 points, six boards) and Arella Guirantes. Los Angeles is 11th in field goal percentage on the season as they shoot 40.5% from the field as a team on the year. The Sparks are tied for 6th in three-pointers per game (seven) and 8th in three-point shooting as they convert 33.1% from beyond the arc this season. Los Angeles is 11th in success at the charity stripe as they cash in 75.4% of their attempts on the year. Jasmine Walker was lost for the season with a torn ACL that she suffered against Las Vegas May 21. Chiney Ogwumike missed 19 games with a knee injury before returning against the Liberty August 22.
Washington Mystics Hoping Return of Delle Donne Leads to Wins
Washington lost their fourth straight and eighth in the last nine games as they were beaten at home by Seattle Sunday. The Mystics enter this game sitting 10th in the WNBA standings, 1.5 games behind the Sparks for the final playoff spot. On Sunday, Washington started strong again, leading 16-4 midway through the first quarter, before things came crashing back to earth. The Mystics led by three after the opening quarter before getting outscored 25-12 in the second quarter to trail by 10 at intermission. Washington trailed by 14 with 9:12 to play before ripping off a 20-5 run to go up 74-73 with 3:32 to go before running out of steam. The Mystics were outscored 12-4 the rest of the way to end up with the loss. In the game, Washington shot 36.8% from the field, including seven of 22 from three-point range, and was edged 42-41 on the glass. Tina Charles led the Mystics with 20 points and nine rebounds in the loss while Elena Delle Donne had 16 points in 22 minutes in her first game since Game 5 of the WNBA Finals in October 2019.
The Mystics are seventh in the league in scoring offense with an average of 81 points per contest this season. Washington comes in 8th in the league in rebounding (34.5 boards per game) and is 7th in assists by handing out 18.9 dimes a night. The Mystics are ninth in the league in scoring defense by allowing an average of 84 points a contest. Tina Charles leads the Mystics with 25.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest this season. Ariel Atkins is one of two other players scoring in double figures as she puts up 16.5 points a night. Erica McCall, Myisha Hines-Allen (12.8 points, 7.9 boards), Natasha Cloud, Theresa Plaisance, Sydney Wiese, Stella Johnson, Shavonte Zellous, Leilani Mitchell, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Megan Gustafson are key pieces for coach Mike Thibault. Washington is 12th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 40.3% from the floor as a team. The Mystics are second in the league in threes per game (9.2) and stand 9th in the league in three-point percentage (32.4%) on the year. Washington is in the middle of the pack at the charity stripe as they are fifth in the league by sinking 82.3% of their chances this season. Elena Delle Donne made her season debut against the Storm August 22 after recovering from offseason back surgery. Zellous (ankle) is out questionable for this contest.
Pick: Washington Mystics
Sure, the Sparks have won four straight games coming out of the Olympic break but they’ve come by a combined 15 points. Getting both Ogwumike sisters back in action is a huge plus: they played together for just the fourth time all year Sunday. With that said, the Sparks still struggle to put points on the board with any consistency and they have to face a Washington team that has the ability to put up big point totals. The Mystics got Delle Donne back for the first time in 22 months on Sunday and she looked good, especially in the second half. She was on a minutes restriction but that may be lifted for this one. Perhaps more importantly, her presence is a huge emotional lift for Washington and that is enough to give the Mystics the edge here.
Total: Over
The Sparks are the league’s worst offensive team when it comes to putting points on the board but things have looked up since the Olympic break. We’ve seen the Sparks crack the 80-point mark twice in their four-game win streak after reaching that total just four times in their first 19 games. Los Angeles has seen the over hit in only eight of their 23 games this season but both matchups with the Mystics have wound up over the mark. Washington has seen the over go 13-9 on the season. With the first two meetings going over the mark and both teams welcoming back key scoring threats recently, this one sees more offense than expected and goes over the mark.
