WNBA games today: Mystics face red-hot Valkyries

It's a new week in the WNBA, which means more opportunity for teams to prove themselves as we approach the halfway mark of this season. Tonight's slate features some matchups that'll be worth tuning in to.

The Mystics will tackle the tall task of trying to slow down the red-hot Valkyries. The Lynx could be missing a key piece of their offense and the night will end with a battle on the West Coast. Here's the full rundown of tonight's WNBA slate.

WNBA games for Monday, July 6

Golden State Valkyries at Washington Mystics

Both of these squads are coming into tonight on winning streaks. The Mystics have won their last two games, thrillingly, might I add. Last week, they overtook the Fire in a quadruple overtime marathon of a game. Most recently, they handed Atlanta an 81-76 loss. Their win over the Dream was especially impressive because it was done without their top scorer, Sonia Citron. But if anyone in the league knows about beating Atlanta, it's the Valkyries. Golden State is on a four-game winning streak, with three of those wins coming over the Dream.

There's no doubt both teams want to continue their hot streaks with a win tonight — especially the Mystics, as they look to solidify themselves further into playoff contention. But they might be without Citron again, as she's listed as questionable; this will hinder them quite a bit. Golden State relies on its 3-point shot pretty heavily, so having Citron available to guard the perimeter and possibly respond with some deep shots of her own would be big for Washington. Without Citron, the weight would fall on the shoulders of the Mystics frontcourt duo, Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin. They have the size advantage in this matchup. If they can force the Valkyries into the paint, they can likely defend it well. However, if this turns into a 3-point contest, the night will get away from the Mystics quickly. The Valkyries average the most made 3-pointers per game at 10.9, while the Mystics are almost dead-last at 5.9 per game.

Connecticut Sun at Minnesota Lynx

The Minnesota Lynx are the obvious favorite to win this one, even if rookie Olivia Miles sits out. She's currently listed as questionable. These two teams are on opposite sides in nearly every statistical ranking. The Lynx average the second-most points per game, while the Sun average the fewest. Minnesota's defensive rating leads the league, while Connecticut sits in the bottom half.

Although in this league, you can never count a team out. The Sun have played better over their last few games — winning two of the last three. They have multiple pieces that can score in high volume. In each of their most recent wins, five players scored in double digits. Connecticut is also a decent rebounding team that could compete with Natasha Howard in the paint. Still, unfortunately, its leading rebounder and third-highest scorer, Aneesah Morrow, will not be available tonight. Brittney Griner and Olivia Nelson-Ododa could definitely still give Howard problems, though.

If Miles is out tonight, I'd expect Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride to get hot early — especially coming off their loss to New York, they won't want to give the Sun a slight chance of making it two losses in a row. They'll have to guard Leïla Lacan well, as she's Connecticut's top contributor and facilitator.

Seattle Storm at Los Angeles Sparks

These teams have already played once this season, when the Sparks walked away with an 88-83 win. The landscape is a bit different this time around, benefiting the Storm. In the first matchup, Kelsey Plum recorded 19 points, 11 assists and 4 steals. Cameron Brink put up 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Both Plum and Brink are unavailable for tonight's rematch.

While the Sparks have lost two top contributors, the Storm have gained one in Ezi Magbegor. She's still finding her footing after injury, but recorded 4 points and 7 rebounds in Seattle's most recent matchup. She rejoins a dominant young frontcourt that is figuring things out further with each game. Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam are averaging a combined 28.9 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. They'll go head-to-head with Nneka Ogwumike tonight, who recorded a team-high 24 points and 9 rebounds in the first matchup.

To win this game, the Storm have to play cohesively. They have some promising pieces; four of their players average 12+ points per game. Flau'jae Johnson has had some spectacular performances recently. Los Angeles, on the other hand, needs more production from players like Dearica Hamby, who only scored 6 points in the first game. Rae Burrell only scored 4 points in the first matchup, but has been a major part of the Sparks' survival without Plum. She's averaging 17.2 points per game over their last six. This could easily be the game of the night, because it's likely we'll be watching full team performances from both these squads.

More WNBA news and analysis:

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow