Mystics lose Delle Donne to knee injury in playoff defeat
ATLANTA — Alex Bentley came off the bench to score 21 points and the Atlanta Dream evened their WNBA semifinal playoff series against Washington with a 78-75 victory Tuesday night, but the game was marred in the closing minutes when Mystics star Elena Delle
Donne went down with what looked to be a knee injury.
Delle Donne had another huge game with 27 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal, giving the Mystics a chance to take control of the best-of-five series with a second straight road win.
Then, with just over 3 minutes remaining and Washington clinging to a 70-68 lead, Delle Donne stumbled on a drive and collapsed to the court, clutching her left knee.
The entire Mystics team raced to her at the opposite end of the court, some turning away in dismay when they saw Delle Donne writing in pain. Washington coach Mike
Thibault said he wasn't sure about the seriousness of the injury.
“It's an emotional time,” he said. “We don't know what Elena's status is going to be. Obviously, she's a huge factor in what we do.”
In other WNBA news:
• Sue Bird scored 19 points, including the goahead basket with 1:03 left in overtime and two clinching free throws with 2.1 seconds left, to help the Seattle Storm recover from blowing a 17-point fourth quarter lead and beat the visiting Phoenix Mercury 91-87 in a semifinal series.
Seattle now has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series, having won Sunday's first game by an identical score.
Phoenix’s Brittney
Griner had 23 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.
• The Las Vegas Aces will pick first in the WNBA draft for a third straight year. Las Vegas won the draft lottery after barely missing the playoffs this past season.
The Aces had the second-best chance (27.6 percent) to secure the top choice. They drafted Kelsey Plum in 2017 when the franchise was still in San Antonio and took A'ja
Wilson with the No. 1 pick this past season.
New York will draft second after moving up from the fourth spot. Indiana, which had a 44 percent chance to get the top pick, will go third and Chicago will pick fourth.
MISCELLANEOUS Skeeters win tight game
Anthony Giansanti hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs, and Barrett
Barnes broke an eighthinning tie with a double as the Sugar Land Skeeters defeated Southern Maryland 4-2 in Atlantic League play at Constellation Field.
Felipe Paulino picked up his 29th save. …
Los Angeles FC captain
Laurent Ciman is leaving the MLS club for Dijon in France's Ligue 1. Ciman has been the centerpiece of the MLS expansion club's defensive efforts, earning an All-Star selection.