It’s the unexpected that makes sports special. Any team can beat another, no matter the perceived gap between the two.
Except, it seems, in the WNBA in September.
Before the season paused for the FIBA World Cup break, all eight playoff spots were claimed. Since play resumed, only one non-playoff team, finally, defeated a playoff team, with Kahleah Copper putting on her cape on Monday night, scoring 31 points and the go-ahead basket to give the Phoenix Mercury the one-point win over the Dallas Wings
in the second-straight game between the two teams.
Before Kah’s heroics, playoff teams were 13-0 against non-playoff teams. Additionally, the Wings’ five-point win over the Mercury on Saturday afternoon was the only game determined by a single-digit margin. The second “closest” game was the Minnesota Lynx’s 12-point win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, then followed by the Golden State Valkyries’ 13-point victory over the Seattle Storm.
This bounty of uncompetitive basketball has been balanced by just three head-to-head matchups against playoff teams.
Tuesday night’s schedule presents more of the same. There’s one game between two non-playoff teams, with the Toronto Tempo visiting the Chicago Sky (8 p.m. ET WNBA League Pass). Then, we have three more games featuring a playoff team facing a non-playoff team: Sun vs. Washington Mystics (7:30 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass), Los Angeles Sparks vs. Las Vegas Aces (10 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Valkyries vs. Portland Fire (10 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass).
WNBA fans’ saving grace? The Lynx take on the Fever in Indianapolis, the single showdown between playoff-bound teams and their first game of a two-game home-and-home set between the teams (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
This matchup is extra appealing because, of the playoff teams, the Lynx and Fever have looked the shakiest since returning to play.
For Minnesota, their win over the Sun, rather than their loss to the New York Liberty, might be more of a reason for concern. As hinted at above, the margins in games between playoff and non-playoff teams have been astronomical. The Lynx’s 12-point win, by comparison, could be considered too close for comfort. The Atlanta Dream, for instance, blasted by Connecticut by a franchise-record 44 points. After holding the Sun to a 12-point first quarter, the Lynx then allowed 31 points in the second.
Yes, they eventually stretched their advantage to 20 points, but it was not the kind of performance that prevented head coach Cheryl Reeve from heeding another postgame warning about her team’s defensive slippage. On Sunday, she described the Lynx defense as “unacceptable.”
Napheesa Collier echoed her head coach, recognizing the team struggled “staying focused throughout the whole game and keeping our team standard throughout the game.”
Indiana is also an unimpressive 1-1 out of the World Cup.
As with Minnesota, their win wasn’t exactly inspiring. While the final score against Toronto on Friday night approached 20 points, it took until halfway through the fourth quarter for the Fever to establish that cushy margin. For much of the night, the depleted Tempo remained in striking distance.
Then, Indiana was nearly blasted out of their own building from the jump on Sunday afternoon by Washington, when a 15-point first-quarter deficit stretched to as many a 26 points before the final margin settled at 16 points.
After the game, head coach Stephanie White didn’t exhibit as much irritation as Reeve, instead discussing her decision to extend her rotation to find “some defensive help” and indicating that the team’s preferred rotation remains a work in progress.
Are these performances from the Lynx and Fever a sign that Zack Ward was right when he argued that Minnesota and Indiana were under the most pressure to win it all this season?
Does the pressure explain their less-than-stellar pre-playoff showings?
On Tuesday, either team can silence such a narrative with a statement win. Beyond simply restoring confidence in their championship ceilings, both Minnesota and Indiana have plenty of motivation.
For the Lynx, a win will finally secure them the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Fever are in the middle of the mass of teams from the No. 4 seed to the No. 8 seed. With two wins in Minnesota, they’re likely to finish at the upper end, quite possibly claiming homecourt advantage in the first round with the No. 4 seed; with two losses, they risk falling all the way to No. 8, a scenario that would set up at least two more games between these squads.
What’s your assessment of Minnesota and Indiana? Do they need to prove they’re not succumbing to extra pressure? Are you a believer in their championship prospects? And, which team will get the win on Tuesday?
Share those thoughts and more in the comments.
