WNBA heads to All-Star break after strong start
The WNBA NEW YORK — heads into the All-Star break this week after a strong first few months of play highlighted by tight standings and record-breaking performances.
“This might be the most competitive season I’ve seen in all my years coaching,” Seattle coach Dan Hughes said. “No one is sitting out this year and there are no easy games.”
Heading into Tuesday, the Storm had the best record in the league at 18-7 with only four losses separating second-place Atlanta from ninthplace Las Vegas, making this season’s playoff race one of the tightest ever. The All-Star game is Saturday in Minneapolis and there’s no debating it’s been an exciting regular season, but the statistics show some of it is optics. It may seem more games are being decided in the last few seconds based on thrilling buzzer-beaters that Atlanta and New York had to beat Connecticut over the past few weeks, but the percentage of games decided by five points or less is about the same as last year at about 25 percent. That’s down from 30 percent in 2014.
Viewers are tuning in to the competitive play with ratings on ESPN2 up 38 percent from last season, the mostwatched WNBA regular season since 2012.
Fans have been treated to some memorable individual efforts. Liz Cambage broke the WNBA individual game scoring record with a 53-point effort against New York. Shekinna Stricklen tied the league’s mark, hitting eight 3-pointers in a game. And those record-setting performances happened in the last week.
Power poll: Seattle sits atop this week’s WNBA poll for the third straight week. The Storm went into Tuesday at 18-7.
No. 2 Atlanta was 15-9. The Dream are 10-0 this season in games decided by six points or less. Last season they were 4-9 in such games.
No. 3 Los Angeles (15-10) lost Alana Beard to a groin injury, and Nneka Ogwumike missed a few games with an illness.
No. 4 Phoenix (15-10) will not have Diana Taurasi in their final game before the AllStar break for technical foul accumulations after she was hit with her seventh one in a loss to Minnesota that triggers a one-game suspension.
Player of the week: Liz Cambage, Wings. Set the WNBA record for points in a game when she had 53 against New York. She followed that with a 35-point effort in her next contest against Washington to set the two-game mark as well. She averaged 34 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks to help Dallas go 2-2 last week.
Milestone: Sue Bird played in her 500th career regular-season game Sunday, breaking the WNBA record held by DeLisha Milton-Jones. Bird has spent her entire career in Seattle and has been the team’s starting point guard since her first game on May 30, 2002.
Swapped: The Wings and Washington Mystics exchanged backup guards, with Tayler Hill and a second-round pick in next year’s draft going to Dallas for Aerial Powers. The trade announced Monday includes the right for the teams to swap first-round picks in the 2019 WNBA draft.
Game of the week: WNBA All-Star game, Saturday in Minneapolis. It will be Team Delle Donne vs. Team Parker in the league’s All-Star game. The WNBA changed its format this year, going with one similar to the NBA by having captains (leading vote-getters) draft the teams.